The Knives In Their Backs
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows The Earth Box - Dekker looked to the red Ranger, "What is worse: a man who stabs his enemies in the chest or a man who stabs his friends in the back?" "I already hate myself, Dekker," Jayden muttered. "You don't have to make it worse."
1. Water Stone Malfunction

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything_

* * *

><p>As per Mentor Ji's order's, Kevin stuck close to Antonio as the gold Ranger worked on programming the Water Stone into the Black Box. So far, everything was going well. There was a strange feeling bubbling inside Kevin, but it was a good feeling. As Antonio worked on the Black Box, he noticed the dragon Zord seemed more alive and active as ever. Antonio didn't know as much as Kevin about the facts of the Samurai, but he did promise Kevin that a happy Zord was a good thing, and Kevin believed him.<p>

"I'm almost there," Antonio promised Kevin as the beam from his Samurai Morpher to the Black Box grew bigger and brighter. "Five minutes tops then I'll have your Stone programmed."

"No hurry," Kevin assured the gold Ranger with a smile. He meant what he said. He would rather be trapped in this room watching Antonio programme a box than have anything bad happen because Antonio felt rushed and was careless in the programming. Antonio smiled at the blue Ranger and focused all his energy on the box.

Two minutes went by without any problems. Kevin was feeling better than ever. The connection the Stone gave him to his Zord and even his element made him feel strong and powerful, like he was unbeatable.

Then it hit him. Before Kevin could say anything he felt a sharp pain in his head. He dropped to his knees, behind Antonio's back. For a couple of seconds, Antonio was clueless to Kevin's suffering. But when he turned around to tell the older Samurai he would be done with the Stone in a minute he saw Kevin withering in pain on the floor. He jumped out of his seat, breaking his connection between the Stone, his Samuraizer and the Black Box as he dropped by Kevin's side.

"Kev! Kevin! Are you okay?" he called to the blue Ranger. Kevin's only response was an ear piercing and heart shattering scream as he clutched his head tightly between both hands and rolled on the ground in pain. Antonio had no idea what to do and sat, frozen in fear.

The other Rangers and Mentor Ji burst into the common room after having heard Kevin's screams. There was no good reason for anyone to be screaming in the Shiba House, especially such a pain filled scream. They all appeared worried, but Mia most of all.

"Kevin!" she shouted, dropping to her knees next to her fiancé. She placed her hand on his back, hoping her touch would help him calm down. Kevin couldn't feel her, though. He couldn't feel anything but pain in his entire body, especially his head. His eyes were screwed shut, so he had no idea who was around him, and there was a loud ringing in his ear that kept him from hearing Mia's, or anyone else's cries.

Kevin rolled around in pain, screaming cries of agony that sent tears streaming down Mia's cheeks. She had no idea what was wrong with the man she loved, and it seemed like there was no way to stop his pain. She grabbed his arm with her good one, trying to reassure him that she was with him, but Kevin's flailed at her touch and swung his arms and legs out to protect himself. Mia was hit in the left arm, right above where her cast ended, and was stuck hard enough to knock her to the side. Just before her right arm hit the ground she felt someone catching her and looked up to see Mike. He sat her back upright on her knees and signalled for Emily to come over and comfort Mia. He was going to take care of Kevin.

As Kevin lashed out once again, Mike grabbed his arm by the wrist, stopping another strike. He held it firmly and leaned over his best friend.

"Kevin, dude, I know it hurts but you've got to calm down! We'll take care of you!"

"Keep him still, Mike," Jayden ordered as he pulled out his Samuraizer. Mia really started to panic.

"Don't hurt him!" she screamed and lunged forward. The only thing stopping her from ripping the Samuraizer from Jayden's hand was Emily.

"Mia, he's going to help," Emily wrapped her arms around Mia's shoulders and held her close. Both girls, Mentor Ji and Antonio watched helplessly as Mike struggled to keep Antonio still and Jayden traced a symbol in the air. It struck Kevin and suddenly the blue Ranger laid still. His breathing evened out, his face untwisted from a look of pain and his muscles began to relax.

"Help me take him to his room," Jayden asked Mike and the two boys lifted Kevin up and dragged him out of the room. Mia wanted to follow, but Mentor held out a hand.

"Kevin will need his rest."

"But…"

"As soon as we figured out what happened we'll let you know," Mentor promised Mia before turning away and following the boys.

Antonio let out a heavy sigh and fell onto his back. He ran his hands through his hair as guilt washed over him. He had no idea what happened to Kevin but he felt responsible for it. He had been working on Kevin's Stone when the blue Ranger dropped. He worried he had done something wrong. It wasn't like he had instructions on how to programme the box.

He looked over at Mia and Emily. Both the girls looked horrified for obvious reasons. Mia had just witnessed her fiancé being attacked from the inside out for no apparent reason and situations like this always scared Emily, who did nothing but worry about her friends when they were injured or ill. Still, Emily was putting on a brave face and trying to stay strong for Mia. Antonio interrupted the yellow Ranger's comforting words to Mia in order to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, Mia… I have no idea… I was just… and he…"

"What happened?" Mia shouted to Antonio. She was so worried and panicked she couldn't control herself. It was so upsetting to her to watch someone she loved so deeply hurting so much and she couldn't do anything to help.

"I don't know," Antonio lowered his head. "I… I don't know…"

"Mia, it's not his fault," Emily tried to be Mia's voice of reason. She grabbed the older Samurai by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "It's got to be the Stone. Mentor said they were powerful, right? Remember yesterday? Remember what I went through just to get to my Stone?"

"I have to see him," Mia tried to leap up but Emily grabbed her right arm and pulled her down.

"No, you can't!" she cried. "You won't do him any good, Mia!"

"He needs me!"

"He needs you to be calm," Emily said. She wrapped her arms around Mia's neck and pulled her into a hug. "He's sleeping now. Jayden, Mike and Mentor will take care of him, I promise. You have to calm down before you can see him."

"No…" Mia shook her head as a fresh wave of tears filled her eyes and flooded down her cheeks. She clung onto Emily as if her life depended on it.

"I know it's hard, but you know it's what's best," Emily whispered into Mia's ear.

Antonio still held his head low in shame, "I'm so sorry, Mia…"

"She knows it's not your fault," Emily said when Mia wouldn't answer Antonio. She shifted slightly in Mia's arms so she could have a look at Antonio and she took his hand. "You didn't know this was going to happen. If you did, you would have stopped."

-Samurai-

Mike chewed nervously on his fingernails as he looked down at his sleeping friend. He still had no idea what Jayden had done to calm Kevin down, but he knew it had worked. The blue Ranger was sleeping peacefully. In fact, if Mike didn't know any better, he would have thought Kevin was just laying down for a midday nap.

But he did know better. He had seen Kevin on the ground in pain. He had heard the screams and felt the panic. He had to restrain the blue Ranger to keep him from hurting himself or the other Rangers and he watched as Jayden put Kevin to sleep.

"He'll be fine," Jayden promised Mike from a corner of the room. He had been sitting in complete silence since they brought Kevin in. He only decided to speak now to help calm Mike down. "He's sleeping. He doesn't feel any pain right now and he's not going to wake up until he's completely pain free."

"The symbol…"

"It's a painless symbol," Jayden promised. "Nothing's going to happen to Kevin while he's asleep, but if we want him to wake up we have to figure out what happened."

"Mentor, now would be a really good time for you to have some answers," Mike turned to the oldest man in the room. Mentor shook his head.

"All I can tell you is the Stones are powerful. Because they've been hidden for so long, not much else is known about them."

"Something must have happened," Mike said. "There's no way the red Ranger would make a Stone that would try to kill another Samurai. Surely whatever's in that Black Box isn't so powerful we can afford to lose one member."

"Or all of us," Jayden looked to Mike, "We don't know if this is just a problem with Kevin's Stone or if the Stones are too powerful for us to handle."

"We can't keep doing this, then," Mike looked to Kevin, "We have to find a way around this; especially before we get to you. None of us know what symbol you used on Kevin."

"We'll figure this out, Mike," Jayden promised. "Kevin's going to be fine. We'll get the box programmed. We'll stop the Nighlok. No one else is going to have to suffer like Kevin did."

"They better not," Mike sighed.


	2. It's Okay To Cry

Being the older sister was a little weird for Emily, but somewhat refreshing. For once, bad things weren't happening to her, though that didn't make Mia's pain any easier for her to witness.

She was sitting in her own bed. Mia's head was on her lap and she was gently playing with the pink Ranger's hair as Mia slept. It had taken a long time, and Emily had to dry many tears, but she had finally gotten Mia to calm down enough to close her eyes and sleep.

Now she didn't want to move. Terrified she would wake Mia if she did.

There was a soft knock on the bedroom door before it opened. Antonio stepped in and peeked over to Emily's bed. He looked horrible. The guilt was not doing him any favours. Time and time again Emily had assured him that what happened to Kevin wasn't his fault, but that didn't change the way Antonio felt.

The gold Ranger closed the door quietly and tip-toed to the bed so as not to wake Mia. He carefully took a seat at the end of Emily's bed and sighed.

"How's she dealing?" he whispered and pointed to Mia. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"Better than before, I guess. Have you gone to see Kevin yet?"

"Nope… I can't. Have you?"

"No…"

"Why not?" Antonio asked. "You didn't do anything to him."

"Doesn't mean it won't be hard seeing him," Emily sighed. "I just wish I knew what happened… that's the hardest part. Not knowing and waiting to see if things will get better or worse. You hope for the best but… there's always this feeling…"

"I should have done something," Antonio pulled his knees to his chest. "I could have done something… I know it. If only…"

"Antonio, it's not your fault," Emily tried to tell him again, just like she had been doing since Kevin collapsed. "If Kevin wakes up… he's not going to blame you. If anything, he'll blame himself."

"That just makes me feel worse…" Antonio looked down to Mia and sighed again. "I can look after her if you want to go lie down or something. You shouldn't have to stay stuck in here…"

"You don't have to punish yourself. You did nothing wrong," at this point Emily was just hoping repetition would drill the truth into Antonio's stubborn skull. "Besides, I don't mind staying with her. She's been there for me before, no matter what."

"I just thought… maybe… don't you want to get away or something?" Antonio asked. "This can't be easy for you… watching him collapse like that… not knowing why or if he's going to be okay. I know you're hurting too."

"Don't make me cry," Emily blinked back the tears and tried to stay strong. Someone in the room needed to be the rock. Mia was in no condition to offer any support. In fact, she was the one who needed the most support. And Antonio was feeling so guilty for what happened there was no way he would be able to keep his head up. It was up to Emily to stay strong and she wasn't going to let her teammates down. She reached over Mia and wrapped her arms around Antonio, "We'll figure this out, okay? Kevin will be back to normal again soon."

-Samurai-

After drifting off to sleep for a quick nap, Jayden woke up and realised he hadn't been dreaming. Kevin's sudden attack, for lack of a better word, had been real. His friend really had suffered tremendous pain and he wasn't getting any better. The only thing keeping Jayden sane at this time was the knowledge that Kevin was no longer suffering. As long as he slept, he wouldn't feel the pain.

He glanced across the room and saw Mike had also fallen asleep. He was fast asleep in his chair right beside Kevin's bed. He looked rather uncomfortable, but Jayden was sure Mike wouldn't want to be moved.

Mentor Ji had left the room before the two boys had fallen asleep, promising he would be searching through every book he had for more information on the Stones. Jayden trusted Mentor wouldn't let them down.

Checking the time on the clock, Jayden pushed himself out of his chair and staggered across the room. He placed a hand on Mike's back and shook him awake.

"Mike…"

"If you tell me I need to leave I'm going to rip your hand off," Mike growled through his sleepy state. Jayden pulled his hand away from Mike's back.

"Right now there's nothing you can do."

"If this were Antonio, would you leave him?" Mike glared up at his leader. When Jayden remained silent he scoffed, "I didn't think so."

"Still, you should get a proper rest," Jayden insisted. "You'll be more help to Kevin that way."

"I can't just leave him," Mike shook his head. He looked up to Jayden sadly, "I know he and I have our differences. We fight, a lot. Especially when we first met. I don't have to tell you that."

"I remember it well," Jayden nodded.

"I never want to see him hurting like that again," Mike turned back to Kevin. "He's my best friend. He shouldn't hurt like that. And then watching Mia go through all that…"

"Emily's taking good care of her, I'm sure."

"Don't remind me," Mike sighed. "At least in here I can make sure nothing goes wrong. I don't have to wonder. I can see it for myself."

"Nothing's going to happen to him, Mike. I promise," Jayden said. "I won't leave this room while you're gone. I'll keep an eye on him. I'll make sure he's comfortable and I'll make sure that if something does happen, it's something good."

"I'm not leaving him…"

"Don't make me get Emily in here to drag you out," Jayden grabbed Mike's arm and pulled him up. "Kevin will appreciate you staying this long. If he were awake right now, you know he would be dragging your butt to bed."

"Don't you need sleep too?" Mike yanked his arm away from the red Ranger. "You sleep first."

"I'll lie down on Mia's half of the bed," Jayden said. He grabbed Mike again and pushed him towards the door. "Go to bed. That's an order."

Again, Mike ripped his arm away from Jayden, "Don't you dare tell me what to do!" he shouted and shoved his leader backwards. Jayden didn't get scared. He stood tall before the green Ranger.

"You won't be able to take care of Kevin if you don't take care of yourself," he said. "I don't want to see you back in this room until you've gotten at least a couple of hours of sleep in a proper bed. Am I making myself clear?"

Mike didn't say anything. He simply turned around and ripped the door open, threatening to take the door right of the hinges. He slammed the door shut as he stomped out and stormed his way down the hall. He paced up and down a couple of times before leaning against the wall in the middle of his room and Kevin's. He ran his hands through his hair and sunk down to the floor.

"It's not fair," he banged his head against the wall as Kevin's cries echoed in his mind. He had never heard such a pained scream in his life. It terrified him, more than he wanted to admit. It scared him to see his best friend hurting. It scared him to see his older sister suffering and helpless. It scared him to know that this could have happened to anyone else. It could have easily been Jayden or himself or Mia or Emily who fell victim to whatever damage the Stone had done.

After letting a few tears fall, he wiped his eyes and pulled himself back to his feet. Jayden had been right; Mike needed to get some sleep. There was no way he would be able to help Kevin in his condition. He knew Jayden would take good care of the blue Ranger while he got a couple hours of sleep.

He walked into his room, a little unsure of what he would find. The rest of the house was empty, so he assumed the others had all found somewhere to hide.

He wasn't surprised when he saw Mia and Emily on Emily's bed. The yellow Ranger had made it her responsibility to take care of the pink Ranger while Kevin was sick. He was a little shocked that Antonio was with them, but when he thought about it, it made sense. Antonio wouldn't want to be alone.

Mia was sleeping and so was Antonio. Emily was sitting up in her bed, still sporting her brave face even though she didn't have to. She knew if she started to cry the whole house would be in tears.

Mike walked over to her and brushed her hair away from her face. Emily jumped, startled. She hadn't seen or heard Mike coming in the room at all. She had been lost in thought.

"Kevin's fine," Mike whispered to her and leaned forward to kiss her. "He's still sleeping. Jayden says he won't wake up until the pain stops."

"Until the pain stops?"

"Uh, let me rephrase that," Mike said, "He's not in pain as long as he sleeps, but he's not going to wake up until whatever's trying to torture him stops trying. He's comfortable, Em, don't worry."

"But he's not awake…"

"It's for the best," Mike looked down at Antonio and Mia, "How are they?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "Kevin is Mia's fiancé and Antonio thinks this is all his fault. How do you think they're doing?"

"They're sleeping, at least," he said. "How about you? How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me, Em," Mike shook his head. "I saw your face earlier. I know you were scared."

"So were you."

"And I'll admit it," Mike said. "I'm terrified, Em. That scream… horror movies never scared me that much. Watching him twist around it pain… it was horrible. I'll be having nightmares for months, even after Kevin gets better."

Mike leaned forward and looked his girlfriend in the eye.

"I'll ask again. How are you holding up?"

Emily's eyes filled with tears and she pulled away from Mike, giving him his answer. He let out a deep sigh and gently lifted Mia's head off Emily's lap. He grabbed Emily's pillow and placed it under Mia's head, letting her sleep comfortably while freeing Emily. He reached his arms out, catching Emily in a hug. She held onto him tightly as he cradled her close to himself.

"We'll get through this," he told her. "We'll figure this all out. We'll be strong for the others, you and me."

"Don't make me cry," Emily muttered into his chest. He kissed the top of her head.

"It's okay to cry."

"No it's not. If I cry everyone else will cry. Mia can't see me cry. Antonio can't see me cry…"

"They're sleeping," Mike whispered. "Being strong doesn't mean we can't cry. We just won't cry in front of the others. But right now… it's okay. We'll let it all out and we'll be strong for them tomorrow."

Mike lifted Emily from her bed. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder as he carried her to the other side of the room and laid her down in his bed. He then lay down on top of her, holding himself only inches above her. He didn't plan on doing anything with her. Even if they were both ready now wasn't the time; but he needed to be close to her, and he knew she needed to be close to him.

He looked into her eyes, "It's okay," he hushed, watching the tears drip down her cheeks. He could feel his own leaking out and then saw them splash onto Emily's face. "It's not going to happen again. Not to Kevin, not to Mia, Jayden, you or me. Let's let this all out now and we'll move forward and deal with tomorrow."

He rolled off of her and fell into his mattress. He never let her go, though and pulled her into himself, holding her close for the rest of the night until they eventually drifted off to sleep.


	3. Pushing On

Mia watched as Kevin rolled on the ground, screaming in agony. She tried to reach him and tell him everything would be okay and she would help him, but she couldn't move. There was nothing around her and yet she felt herself being pulled back. She screamed his name and dropped to her knees.

She was pulled from her dream at this point as her eyes fluttered open. Relief and dread washed over her when she found herself back into reality. She realised that was just a dream and that Kevin wasn't in pain anymore, but her stomach turned because she knew she had that dream because it had actually happened.

As she pushed herself up, she noticed she wasn't in her bedroom and she remembered falling asleep on Emily's lap. She looked around for the yellow Ranger but her best friend wasn't in the bed with her. Terrified and in desperate need for someone to be with her, Mia's eyes darted around the room, hoping Emily wasn't too far away.

Her eyes fell upon the end of the bed, where Antonio was curled up and sleeping soundly in his own little corner. Mia felt bad for the gold Ranger, who believed everything that happened was his fault even though no one truly blamed him. She had yelled at him right after Jayden and Mike took Kevin away, but she hadn't accused him of anything. She knew the Stones could be tricky; they all knew. They just didn't know how tricky.

She pulled the blankets down so they covered him and that's when she noticed Mike and Emily sleeping together in Mike's bed. They were cuddled up so close to each other they were basically one person. Mia was a little jealous. They still had each other; meanwhile, Kevin was in another room, unable to make her feel better.

Mia crawled out of Emily's bed (a little awkwardly with only one arm) and walked across the room. She reached her hand out to gently shake Emily awake but stopped. She couldn't bring herself to use Emily for comfort again. She already felt bad enough for the night before. Mia was supposed to be the strong one. It was her job to look after Emily and the boys when they were struggling. She shouldn't be relying on them, especially when she knew they were hurting as well.

The pink Ranger was about to turn away and head back into bed when she heard her name being called. She looked back down and saw Emily had somehow woken up and was staring up at her.

"Are you okay?" she whispered very quietly. Mia nodded her head.

"I'm fine."

"Mia…"

"Go back to sleep, Emy," Mia tried again to turn away but Emily grabbed her arm. She crawled out of bed, over the sleeping Mike, and stood in front of her best friend.

"I'm already awake," she smiled gently to Mia. She pointed to the door, "Did you want to go see Kevin?"

Mia shook her head, though she wanted nothing more than to see her fiancé and sit by his side, she couldn't bring herself to ask Emily to come with her. Kevin wasn't just her fiancé, he was also Emily's Ranger brother, and in a different way, Emily loved him just as much as Mia did. Seeing him in his state would only hurt Emily and Mia couldn't do that. So no matter how much she needed to see Kevin, she couldn't let herself depend on the others.

Emily seemed to read her like an open book. She pulled the older Samurai into a hug.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I want to see him too. We'll go together so it's easier."

Mia didn't have time to argue. Emily grabbed her right arm and pulled her out of the room. The yellow Ranger led her pink Ranger down the hall, which seemed to go on forever, before they reached the bedroom door. Mia's heart was in her throat and she tried to pull away, but Emily didn't let go of her hand.

"Mia…"

"What if…?"

"He's sleeping," Emily told her. "Mike promised me he's in no pain. He's just sleeping. You know, like me with the spirit Nighlok… only painless and he's not going to die."

"Emy…"

"I know you want to do this," Emily whispered. She tugged on Mia's hand. "Don't be scared."

Mia nodded her head and let Emily pull her into the room.

-Samurai-

When Mike woke up he noticed he was alone. No Emily in his bed, and Antonio and Mia were both gone. He ran his hand down his face and sighed loudly as he pulled himself out of bed. His feet dragged across the bedroom floor as he made his way out and into the kitchen.

Jayden and Antonio were sitting silently at the table. Antonio was stirring his coffee mindlessly while Jayden slowly finished eating his breakfast. The red Ranger looked up when he heard someone walking into the room.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Define well," Mike took his seat and leaned back. "I take it Mia and Emily are with Kevin?"

"They came in earlier this morning," Jayden nodded. "I left them alone and went to check up on you and Antonio. You were out like a light, but…"

Both boys turned to Antonio sadly, knowing the guilt he was feeling. Antonio could feel the stares and looked up at his friends. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm going fishing," he pushed his coffee away and left the kitchen without another word. Jayden sighed and then turned to Mike.

"You can go see Kevin now," he said.

"I need your permission?"

"No… but…"

"I need breakfast," Mike said. He grabbed the loaf of bread and put two slices into the toaster. "I'll go visit him when I'm ready."

"I'm sorry I kicked you out last night," Jayden could sense the tension between him and Mike and knew it had something to do with what happened the night before. He had forced Mike to leave Kevin when it was clear the green Ranger wanted to support his friend.

"Sorry," Mike breathed, realising he had snapped at Jayden, "You were right last night. I needed to get away."

"If it helps, Mentor Ji's working hard to figure this out. Hopefully it won't be long until we know what happened."

"Hopefully," the toast popped and Mike grabbed it. He put it on a plate and walked to the table. He took a bite and then realised he hadn't put anything on the toast. Too stressed to care, he continued eating.

"I was thinking… maybe a little easy training might take our minds off… you know," Jayden looked over at Mike. The green Ranger shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe. It'll probably just be you and me, though… Emily if we're lucky. Antonio's likely gone for the day and Mia…"

"I'll make sure it's something Mia can do," Jayden said. "A game with the folding Zords, maybe. Anything to keep us from going mad with worry."

"Do you want me to ask them?" Mike offered while finishing off his toast. He looked at Jayden, "Maybe I can convince them to come out."

"You would have more luck than me," Jayden nodded.

Mike got up from his seat and set his empty plate on the counter. He gave Jayden a pat on the shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

Jayden let his head drop slightly once he was alone. He took a few deep breathes and then heard shuffling on the other side of the kitchen. He turned to the source of the noise and saw Mentor Ji with a book.

"It always amazes me how close you Rangers are," Mentor said to Jayden. "Kevin's episode seems to have you all extremely worried."

"It's that scream, Mentor. I've never heard anything like it," Jayden explained. "He was in so much pain and we didn't know how to help…"

Mentor nodded and took a seat at the table. He set the book he was carrying down in front of Jayden and tapped the cover.

"I was searching through your father's things," he said. "None of our books have the information we needed."

"It's fine," Jayden said. He opened the cover of the book, "What's in here?"

"You must convince Antonio to complete the programming of the Water Stone," Mentor Ji looked Jayden right in the eyes. "Once programmed, the Stone will cease to resist."

"The resistance is causing Kevin's pain?" Jayden asked and Mentor nodded his head. Jayden flipped through the pages of the book, "Are they all going to resist?"

"Perhaps."

"Then what are we going to do?" Jayden looked up at Mentor, "We can't do this to all the Rangers just for a stupid Box. It'll rip them apart, if not physically then emotionally! I'm not doing that to my team!"

Jayden slammed his hands on the table and jumped to his feet. Mentor looked up at the red Ranger sadly.

"We do not know what will happen, Jayden. The Stones could resist or they may try something else. You must get Antonio to finish the programming and then you are to remain silent about the other Stones. We will program the other Stones one at a time and privately so as not to scare the Rangers. Only you, Antonio and I will be allowed to know what's going on."

"Mentor, no," Jayden shook his head. "That's torture! No one's going to want their Stone in the Black Box after what happened to Kevin."

"We will tell them everything has been fixed…"

"Another lie?"

"I'm sorry, Jayden…"

"What happens after we torture the next Ranger? They'll tell the others."

"Jayden, you're looking at the worst-case scenario. Kevin had the first stone. It's very possible we have no more struggles."

"I'm going next, then," Jayden stated. "I'm not going to ask the Rangers to do anything I wouldn't do myself, and I'm not going to put them through hell without having experienced it myself."

"That is very noble of you, Jayden, but you must go last. Should anything go wrong with the others, they do not have a mastery of their symbols like you do. By going last, you are giving them all time to practice so they may protect you."

Jayden growled as he stared at his Mentor. He knew the old man had a point. The only thing that had saved Kevin the day before was the symbol Jayden had used. None of the other Rangers knew of the symbol, or had enough practice to use it. If he went next and the Fire Stone did the same thing to him as the Water Stone did to Kevin, no one would be able to help him. At least, if he went last, he could secretly train the other Rangers to use the symbol, and when the time came they would be ready to use it on him.

Jayden grabbed his cup and tossed it across the room, realising he had no other choice but to put his friends at risk. As he stormed away from Mentor, expressing his anger towards the man who had raised him, there was only one thought on his mind.

Who would go next?


	4. Torture

Mia had cried herself dry. She sat beside Kevin on the bed, holding his hand gently in her own as she watched him sleep. He seemed peaceful, thankfully, and that meant he likely wasn't suffering as he slept, but it still didn't make things any easier. His screams would forever linger in her mind. The only thing that could truly comfort her now was his voice telling her he was okay.

Emily sat in a corner, not even on a chair. Her knees were pulled up against her chest as she watched Mia, ready to react in case the pink Ranger needed a friend. Until she was needed, she would keep her distance and she would give Mia her privacy.

Breaking the silence in the room, Mike opened the door and walked in. He looked around the room, just to get a feel of what was going on. He saw Mia sitting next to Kevin, which didn't surprise him, and Emily curled up in a corner. He stepped towards his girlfriend but she shook her head and glanced at Mia.

Mike nodded and made his way over to the bed. He placed his hand between Mia's shoulders as he looked at Kevin.

"How is he?"

"Same," Mia shrugged. "Nothing's happening."

"That's good, Mia."

"It means he would be in pain still if it weren't for Jayden's symbol."

"But he's not in pain right now. That's what's important."

"Will he wake up soon?" Mia glanced up at Mike hopefully. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. Jayden will figure this out, though. We have to trust him and Mentor. They won't let us down."

Mike wrapped his arms around Mia comfortingly as a fresh set of tears started welling up in her eyes. He held her close as his eyes strayed to Emily.

"I just came in here to ask if someone wanted to do something with me," he asked. "Jayden suggested training even Mia could do. I could pull out a game and we can play with the Zords…"

"I don't want to leave," Mia muttered and Emily nodded her head in agreement. Mike sighed.

"We could play the game in here," he offered. Neither girl argued so he took that as a yes. He let go of Mia and walked to the door. "I'll be back with the game board and our Zords."

-Samurai-

Jayden went for a walk through the forest to clear his mind after the news Mentor Ji had given him. Mentor was asking him to deceive him friends. Make them all believe everything was going to be okay, and then one by one they would put them at risk for, what Jayden believed was torture, and hope they would be strong enough to survive.

He never wanted to put his friends in danger. He knew the symbol he had used on Kevin would work to save the other Rangers and keep them from hurting too much, but there was so much that could go wrong. They had no idea what kind of power was in the Stones. It was already a big enough risk having the Stones in their possession. But whatever was inside that Box was powerful and with Master Xandred getting more and more powerful, the Rangers needed all the help they could get. Up until now, they were lucky he hadn't done anything too destructive, but the longer Xandred waited before unleashing a truly powerful Nighlok into the city, the worse things were going to be.

If the circumstances were any different, Jayden would have fought to the death against Mentor Ji's plan. But without any other ideas, there was nothing he could do.

He found himself approaching a river and knew this was Antonio's favourite fishing spot. He spotted his best friend along the water and walked up to him.

"You and I need to talk."

Antonio looked up from the water, "I know I screwed up, Jay…"

"This isn't your fault," Jayden promised. "You're doing everything right, Antonio. Mentor figured out why what happened to Kevin happened."

"Why?" Antonio asked. "Jay, what happened? Is Kevin going to be…?"

"The Stone's resisting. It's got so much power and for some reason it doesn't want to go into the Box. It's going to fight and Kevin's going to feel the pain until you program it in. Once inside, it'll settle and Kevin will be back to normal."

"So… I have to hurt him again?" Antonio asked, eyes wide. He didn't want to hurt his friends.

Jayden shook his head, "While under the spell of the symbol, Kevin won't feel a thing," he placed his hand on Antonio's shoulder, "You can finish programming the Stone and Box without hurting Kevin. I promise. In fact, right now would be the best time to do it."

"What about the others. Will their Stones resist?" Antonio looked up at Jayden, "I don't want to hurt them, too, Jay."

Jayden took a deep breath, "That's why I want to talk to you. Mentor thinks that Kevin's stone is only acting this way because it's the first Stone to be programmed. If that's true, the others will be less and less painful as we go on. By the end, the last Samurai might not feel a thing."

"I guess that's better than nothing," Antonio sighed. "What if he's wrong, though…?"

Jayden remained silent for a moment. Antonio glared at Jayden as the message sunk in. He let go of his rod and jumped to his feet.

"No, Jayden! No way!"

"Antonio, please listen. We have to do this. One by one, we'll get the Rangers to…"

"It's cruel! They trust you!" Antonio went off on a Spanish rant and Jayden winced as he listened. He didn't understand what his best friend was saying, but he was positive it wasn't nice things. Finally, Antonio ended his verbal abuse on Jayden by grabbing him by the shirt and throwing him into the river. "Pudran en el infierno!"

"Antonio!"

"I used to look up to you, Jay," Antonio glared at his best friend as he gathered up his things. "I get that the world is at stake and that sacrifices need to be made, but I am not hurting my friends."

"It's worse than that…" Jayden lowered his head and looked at the water. He wanted to dunk himself in and drown, but that would do no good.

Antonio blinked, "It gets worse?"

"Yeah… we need them to think everything's okay. They're going to be too scared to…"

Antonio couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Deception?"

"We'll tell them before you program the Stone, I promise!" Jayden said quickly before Antonio could think any less of him. "They'll know what they're doing and we'll wait until they're ready… but why worry them until they need to be worried… if they even have to be worried?"

"You disgust me," Antonio spat. He turned his back to Jayden.

"I hate myself for asking you to do this, Antonio. If there was anything else we could do…"

"Yeah!" Antonio shouted, turning back to the red Ranger, "We wait for a better plan."

"And leave Kevin the way he is."

"I'll fix Kevin," Antonio promised. "I'm going home to do that right now. I don't want to see him or the others suffering anymore. And that's why I'm not going through with your idiotic plan."

"Antonio, please!" Jayden stepped out of the water and grabbed his friend's arm. "You're my best friend. Out of everyone, you know me best. Would I be doing this if there was anything else we could do?"

Antonio looked down at his shoes, "No."

"Would I ever do anything to my team that would cause them any kind of pain if there wasn't a good reason for it?"

"No…"

"Please, Antonio. I promise the Rangers will know everything just… not before it's their turn to program the Stone. We'll tell them the risks, we'll promise their safety and it'll be their choice to go through with it or not… we just… I don't want them to feel like they're waiting for their doomsday. After seeing what Kevin went through… the fear and dread and pain might push them over the edge. It's best to…"

"You're losing a lot of my respect, Jayden," Antonio told his friend truthfully. "But if I'm going to participate, I want you to make me two promises."

"Anything, anything at all."

"First promise: no means no. If, let's say Mia, refuses to let me program her Stone, you have to promise me you won't try to convince her otherwise. You'll let her go off and you won't make her feel guilty for holding back my progress."

"I pro…"

"Second:" Antonio interrupted, "I would hate to see you die, Jayden, but if something does go wrong… I need you to promise me the others will make it out alive; no matter what. They don't deserve to die because you and Mentor deceived them."

"Of course," Jayden nodded his head, "I promise, Antonio. I'll do everything I can to make this as painless as possible for everyone."

Antonio bumped Jayden as he stepped past him and started making his way home. "I'm going to help Kevin. I don't care what you tell the Rangers, but I don't want to see any of them until it's their turn to be tortured."

"Don't say it like that…"

"Why?" Antonio snapped, "Does it make you feel bad?"

Jayden lowered his head, "I hate myself…"

"You said that," Antonio pointed down the path, "C'mon. Let's go do your final good deed. Mia deserves some time with Kevin before you hurt her."


	5. Jayden Spins A Web Of Lies

Mia paced back and forth, chewing her fingernails as she worried over Kevin's condition. Jayden and Antonio had both come into the room with the Water Stone, the Dragon Zord and the Black Box, and Jayden had asked that everyone leave the room. He assured the Rangers that Kevin would be fine and they had figured out a way to help him get better. Antonio hadn't said a word, and seemed uncharacteristically withdrawn, but given everything he had been through, no one made much of it.

"Why did they kick us out?" she asked and turned to Mike and Emily. Both Rangers shrugged their shoulders.

"Maybe it's just a precaution?" Mike suggested.

"For what?" Mia looked back at her bedroom door, "Jayden promised Kevin would be fine! He said he figured it out!"

Emily walked over to Mia and hugged her best friend.

"He's going to be fine. When Kevin wakes up he might be confused. If we're all in the room it might scare him."

"I need to be in there," Mia pulled away from Emily and tried to get to the door but Mike held her back. He grabbed her by the arm and gently led her to the common room. He sat her down on the stool and then took the spot next to her. He held her hand comfortingly.

"You'll be there for Kevin when he needs you," Mike told the pink Ranger. "Please, Mia, just relax."

"I can't relax, Michael!" Mia ripped her hand away. "I just… Kevin…"

Mike and Emily both frowned and turned when Mia suddenly stopped and froze. They saw she was staring past them and over to the doorway and turned to see what had caught her attention. They gasped in shock and relief when Kevin walked into the room, as if nothing had happened.

"What's going on?" he asked the three Rangers. Mia's hand covered her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at Kevin. The blue Ranger saw his fiancé crying and worry washed over him. "Mia…"

"Are you okay?" Mia's question only confused Kevin. He was feeling fine. She was the one standing in the middle of the room crying.

"Me?" he asked her. "I'm fine. What's wrong? What happened?"

Mia's lip quivered as she walked over to Kevin and wrapped her arm around him tightly. She buried her face in his chest and let the tears fall freely. Kevin held her with both arms and rocked her gently from side to side.

"Mia…"

"Don't you ever do that again," Kevin heard her muffled voice. He squeezed her gently and looked to Mike and Emily. They also looked as if they had been crying.

"Guys, what happened?" he turned his head as Jayden walked into the room. "Jayden…?"

"I figured Mia would fill you in," Jayden said. He couldn't make eye contact with Kevin or the other Rangers, knowing what he was about to do to them. "Until she does, let's just say you gave us quite a scare."

Kevin nodded his head before looking down and kissing the top of Mia's head, "I'm fine, now. Whatever happened… it's done. Over. Please stop crying, Mia."

"Antonio's no longer in your room, if you would like some privacy," Jayden suggested. He assumed they would want some time alone after everything they had been through. They deserved it.

Kevin didn't hesitate to take Jayden up on his offer. He held Mia tightly as he led her away from the Rangers and into their room.

Jayden watched them leave with a heavy heart, knowing this wasn't the end of the road for either of them. However, he was going to give them a break. Mia had torn herself apart worrying for Kevin, making herself weaker and therefore she was in no condition to help Antonio program the Wind Stone. Jayden wasn't going to ask her for her help. He knew, right now, not even the world's safety could tear her away from Kevin.

"You figured it out?" Emily's voice brought him back into the common room. The red Ranger looked in the youngest Samurai's direction, but again he avoided eye contact.

"Yeah," he nodded. "We figured it out."

"How? What went wrong?" Mike asked.

"The Stone resisted," this would be the last time Jayden told the truth, and he knew it, "because it was so far away from its element it felt threatened. It fought back and Kevin, because he was connected, took the attack. We managed to program the Stone into the Box, so it's nice and settled now and Kevin can relax. We can all relax."

"So… as long as we're near our elements when we program the box we should be fine, right?" Emily smiled up at Jayden. When he nodded her smile grew, "That's good! Earth and Wind are everywhere, we're surrounded by forest and… well, for you we'll light a bunch of candles or something. This won't happen again, right?"

"No. It won't happen again," Jayden said before looking over to where Mike was sitting. He then turned back to Emily and sighed loudly. He had a decision to make and he had to make it fast. Mentor made it clear that Jayden was supposed to go last so the Rangers would have time to figure out the symbol he used, which Mentor Ji was going to teach Kevin soon. After deciding not to have Mia next in line that only left him with two Rangers to choose from.

One more time, Jayden looked at the two Rangers before making his decision.

"Em, feel like going next?"

"Me?" Emily pointed to herself and then shrugged, "Uh… I guess."

"Antonio's waiting for you outside. You turned the yard into your own personal Earth temple, but we're going to go somewhere a little better just to make sure nothing happens."

"Okay," Emily nodded her head. Trusting Jayden, she walked off to go find Antonio.

"She'll be fine, right?" Mike asked. He had a right to be worried. After seeing what happened to Kevin, it was natural to be scared for Emily. Jayden nodded his head.

"I'll keep an eye on her, I promise."

"Are you going in order?" Mike asked as Jayden started to head out. The red Ranger stopped.

"What?"

"You know… when Antonio first programmed the box he started with Kevin, then Emily… are you doing the same thing with the Stones."

"Yeah," again, this was a lie. So far, everything had worked out accidentally to match what had been done with the symbols when Antonio first got the box. Jayden couldn't tell Mike the truth, though; the real reason he had chosen Emily to go next. If he had chosen Mike and the green Ranger remembered his suffering, there was no way he would ever let the Earth Stone be programmed. Mike valued Emily's happiness and safety over everything else, everyone knew that. He would lie, cheat and steal for Emily. Jayden was sure that if he chose Mike first, the green Ranger would expose his lies not only to Emily, but to the entire team, just to keep her safe. By having Emily go first, Jayden knew he could avoid that. As long as Mike remained clueless and never saw Emily suffering, even though Jayden planned for it to last less than a moment, Jayden knew there would be very little struggle from both Emily and Mike.

Jayden reached the front door and was about to push it open, but Mike's voice stopped him again.

"She trusts you, Jay," he said, "almost as much as she trusts me and Mia. This isn't going to hurt her, is it? You… you aren't lying, are you?"

Jayden never turned around, "No… I'm not lying."


	6. Abuse of Emily's Trust

Emily hiked through the mountains, following Jayden and Antonio as they led the way. She knew they wanted to go deep into her element, just to make sure the programming would go smoothly, but they had been walking for hours.

"I think we're good here," she said, taking a seat on a rock. Antonio and Jayden stopped when they heard her and turned around. Emily looked at them, "Why are we so far from home?"

"_Because out here no one can hear you scream,"_ was the first answer that came to mind for Jayden, but he knew better than to answer with that. He already felt like a monster for what he was about to do, he didn't want to sound like one too.

"I guess we're far enough," he said instead and turned to Antonio. The gold Ranger glared at him before looking away. Jayden sighed and looked in Emily's direction, trying to keep his gaze as close to her as possible, without looking her in the eyes. "Pull out the Earth Stone, Em."

Emily did as she was told and pulled the stone from her pocket. Antonio then set the Black Box next to her. The programming was a lot less draining on him when the Box and Stone were closer together. He didn't know if it would do the same for Emily. He could only hope.

"So, what do I do?" Emily asked. "Just sit here and make sure everything's fine?"

"Yes," Jayden nodded before he was elbowed in the ribs by Antonio. He looked at the gold Ranger and sighed. "Actually… Em…"

"Actually what?" Emily asked a hint of panic in her voice. She looked to Jayden, then Antonio. "Why doesn't this sound good."

"Because it's not," Antonio muttered. He glared at Jayden, "Your plan, Señor decepción, you tell her."

"Plan?" Emily looked to Jayden. The red Ranger let out a deep breath as he stared at the ground.

"This might hurt a bit, Em…"

"Jayden, tell her the truth," Antonio growled.

"The truth?" Emily squeaked.

Antonio nodded to Emily and glared at Jayden.

"The truth, Jayden. Look her in the eyes and tell her exactly what you're asking her to do."

Jayden blinked as he stared at the dirt, "Emily, there's a chance that…"

"Look her in the eyes!" Antonio shouted. He grabbed Jayden's head and pulled it up, forcing him to look at Emily.

Jayden had no other choice now. He looked Emily right in the eyes, "Being out here doesn't do anything to the Stone," he said. "There's a chance that this might hurt you as much as it hurt Kevin."

Emily's eyes widened, "But… but…"

"I lied, Emily," Jayden breathed.

"The good news is that Jayden can use his symbol on you so that it doesn't hurt for long," Antonio assured Emily. "Best case scenario, if the Stone does cause you pain, we use the symbol, you'll fall asleep and while you feel no pain we finish programming your Stone. You'll wake up feeling perfectly fine."

"Is… is that what you did to Kevin?" Emily asked nervously.

Jayden nodded his head, "It might be exactly like what happened to Kevin."

"But… but… you… you promised, Jay. You said…"

"I lied."

"Why would you lie?" Emily asked. She looked up at Jayden with innocent eyes, making him feel so much worse than he already did.

Antonio took a seat beside Emily. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her.

"This is a big deal, Em," he said. "This might hurt a lot for a few seconds before Jayden casts the symbol. If you don't want to do this…"

"You didn't have to lie," Emily interrupted Antonio as she stared at Jayden. "Why lie?"

"Do you want to do this, Emily?" Jayden asked. "You can say no."

"Tell me the truth," Emily demanded. "Will you stop it hurting if I do it?"

Jayden blinked. For a moment he thought his lies had cost him Emily's trust. He was surprised to see she was still willing to put her life in his hands.

"Of course, Em."

"O-okay…" she nodded. "You can do it."

"Are you sure?" Antonio asked her. "Emily, you can say no. We won't force you…"

"This is important," Emily said. "I know you lied but… you did it for a good reason, right, Jayden? You wouldn't have lied if it wasn't for a good reason…"

"Em…"

"Just don't let it hurt me, okay," Emily closed her eyes and braced herself.

Antonio gulped and stepped away from Emily. He pulled out his Samuraizer and shot one last glare at Jayden before he started programming the Earth Stone's powers into the Black Box.

-Samurai-

A couple of hours after Kevin had woken up, Mentor went to find him. He needed to prepare the blue Ranger for when Antonio had to program the Fire Stone. Kevin didn't have much time to master a new symbol, so he was going to have to start as soon as possible.

He found Kevin and Mia in their room. Kevin was sitting on the bed and Mia was curled up, fast asleep, on his lap. He was slowly rocking her back and forth, trying to keep her calm even in her sleep. After she had told him everything that happened to him, he couldn't imagine how terrified she was. He couldn't remember the pain the Stone had caused him, but just hearing Mia's description of what happened hurt him. It wasn't because he could imagine the pain, because thankfully he couldn't, but he couldn't imagine what Mia must have seen and how it affected her.

When he noticed his door was open, he looked over and saw Mentor Ji. The older man approached the bed quietly.

"I see you're feeling much better."

Kevin nodded, "Truth be told, I never felt bad. I can't remember anything past Antonio programming my Stone."

"It's for the best," Mentor said. There was a silence in the room as Mentor looked around. There was no way to work his request into a conversation, so he decided to just say it. "Jayden's learned a number of interesting symbols over the years. Many of them require extreme skill to master. The symbol he used on you was one of those, and I believe it would be smart for another Ranger to learn to us it."

"Another Ranger as in…?"

"Kevin, it is crucial you learn this new symbol," Mentor said. "Should anything happen to Jayden, we need a Ranger capable of saving him."

"I'll do it, Mentor," Kevin nodded. He was always eager to learn. Learning was how he improved, and improvement meant he was one step closer to being the best Samurai he could be.

Mentor smiled, "Good. I will give you another hour with Mia before we start."

"I'll do my best, Mentor."

-Samurai-

It had now been a few hours since Antonio started programming her Stone. Emily was getting really bored. When she had finally relaxed she started watching the beam of energy, but there was only so long she could stare at light before her eyes started to water and she had to look away.

The longer she sat, bored, the more confident she was starting to feel. She figured maybe she was the lucky one. Maybe she wouldn't have to suffer through what Kevin suffered through.

She glanced over at Jayden and saw he had his Samuraizer in his hand, at the ready. She remembered how he lied to her, but she trusted him. He was her leader, her friend. She knew he would never do anything to put her in any danger. If he lied to her, there had to be a good reason. So, after the lie, when he promised her she would be safe and the pain would be as minimal as possible, she couldn't help but trust him.

Suddenly, it hit her like a train. First her head, followed by the rest of her body. She had never felt a pain like it before, and she had experienced some of the worst kinds of pain in her life.

Jayden's first indication that something was wrong was when Emily fell off her rock and rolled around in pain on the ground. Antonio quickly stopped what he was doing and turned to Jayden.

"Now!" he screamed to the red Ranger. The longer Jayden waited, the more Emily was going to hurt.

Jayden fumbled with his Samuraizer and dropped it when Emily screamed. Her cries were so loud, Jayden thought he felt the ground shaking. For a moment, he was scared the Rangers would hear her, even though they were many miles away.

Another scream reminded Jayden he had to focus. He reached down and picked up his Samuraizer while Antonio went to hold Emily down and keep her still so Jayden wouldn't miss. The red Ranger traced the symbol and shot it at Emily. Her body absorbed the energy and for a moment she laid completely still.

Antonio had tears streaming down his face as he let her go, thinking she was sleeping peacefully. He got off of her and was about to pick up his Samuraizer when he saw her eyes flutter open.

"That hurt…" her voice sounded broken and surprised Jayden and Antonio. Kevin had fallen straight to sleep once the symbol had hit him. They didn't expect Emily to wake up.

"Emily, are you okay?" Antonio asked her and helped her to sit up. He looked into her eyes, "Are you hurting? The pain…"

"Go away…" Emily whispered to Antonio. She pulled away from him.

"Em…"

Emily's head turned to Jayden when he said her name. She glared angrily at him.

"You lied!"

"No, Emily…"

"I trusted you and you lied!" Emily screamed. She picked herself up off the ground and looked around. She was miles from home and surrounded by people who had used her trust against her. She grabbed her Stone from a rock and tucked it away. "This is mine…"

"Emily, please just…"

"Shut up!" Emily shouted. "You planned this! You wanted to hurt me!"

"No," Antonio shook his head. "Emily, you have to believe us…"

"You were lying the whole time! You lied about admitting to lying, didn't you?"

"No…"

"Liar!" Emily shoved Antonio back into the dirt and tried to run away. Jayden grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"Emily, please listen! We didn't know this…"

"You're lying! You're always lying!" Emily punched Jayden in the chest, trying to get him to let her go. Jayden saw her struggling and knew he wasn't helping himself. He let her go and she ran. Jayden turned to Antonio.

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

"What is this?" Antonio asked. "The symbol knocked Kevin right out! Why didn't it work for Emily?"

"It did," Jayden answered. "It's not a sleeping symbol. It's a symbol that takes away the pain… she doesn't seem to be hurting… not from the Stone."

Antonio turned to where Emily had run off, "We have to follow her."

-Samurai-

Emily ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She needed to get home and she needed to hide from Antonio and Jayden before they caught up to her and hurt her again.

She made it to the Shiba Yard, stumbling as she passed the gate. Mentor Ji was training Kevin outside. Emily's first instinct was to run to them for safety, but she stopped suddenly. Her eyes fell on the pair and everything made sense. Mentor Ji always knew what was going on around the house. Any plans Jayden had, he was usually the first to hear about them. Kevin was loyal to Jayden. He would do anything his leader said.

She backed away from Mentor and Kevin as they looked at her with worried eyes.

"You… you knew!" she shouted. "You were in on it… it was all a trick."

"What?" Kevin frowned. He glanced at Mentor who shrugged. Kevin looked back to Emily, "Em, what happened?"

Jayden and Antonio made it into the yard at this moment and Emily didn't fail to notice. She felt surrounded by traitors and she needed to get away. She raced for the door and disappeared inside.

She slammed the door shut behind her and when she turned around she bumped right into Mia who was on her way outside to watch Kevin train. Again, Emily's first instincts were to throw herself at Mia and hide from the people who betrayed her, but she stopped herself before she could do that. Mia and Kevin were engaged. They shared everything. If Kevin was in on the plan to hurt her, so was Mia.

"You… you…"

"Emy, are you okay?" it didn't take a genius to notice Emily looked distressed. She reached her good hand out to Emily, but the yellow Ranger pulled away. Her back hit the door just in time to slam it shut as the boys tried getting into the house.

Mia looked worried, "Emily, what happened?"

"You were pretending…" Emily whispered. "All that time… you… you… I trusted you!"

"Emily…"

"You're a snake!" Emily screamed. She grabbed Mia roughly by both arms and rammed her into the wall, creating a path to run. She bolted as soon as she got the chance and turned the corner.

Mike heard Emily screaming and rushed to find her. They bumped into each other in the hallway, frustrating the already scared Emily who just wanted to run away and find someone who wouldn't betray her. She looked Mike in the eyes and had to question his loyalty to her.

"Emily," he wrapped his arms around her as the others gathered around. "What happened?"

Emily's eyes widened suddenly. She kicked and punched Mike, forcing him to let her go, which was exactly what he had done wrong.

"You knew too!" she screamed at him. "That's why you let me go! You knew they would hurt me!"

"Hurt you?" Mike's eyes flashed with rage as he shot a look at Antonio and Jayden. He turned back to Emily, "Em, it's me. I would never…"

"You're all lying!" Emily shouted.

Scruffy raced into the hallway. All the screaming had drawn him over to see what was going on. When he noticed his mistress was distressed and the source of her stress was coming from the other humans, he growled. Emily looked at the dog.

"He… he…"

"Emily, what happened?" Mike needed to know. He reached out to grab Emily, but that only made her pull away. Scruffy had seen enough. He bared his teeth and lunged for Mike.

Emily, who was in close proximity to Mike, misread her dog's actions and screamed when he jumped. She backed away and Scruffy stood before her. Everyone else could see he was trying to protect Emily, but the yellow Ranger saw it differently.

"You set this up!" she screamed. "Everyone knew! You all wanted to hurt me!"

"Emy, no one wants to…"

Mike grabbed Mia by the arm, silencing her. He knew he didn't want to hurt Emily, and he trusted that Mia and Kevin didn't want to hurt her, but he had a feeling there was some truth to her words.

"Emily, please…" Mentor begged the yellow Ranger. She shook her head.

"You're all liars! I won't trust you! I can't trust you!"

Taking off down the hall, Emily opened the first door she reached and locked herself inside; making sure the door was actually locked so no one could come after her. She ran to the wall furthest from the door and curled up against it.

Outside the room, Mike's eyes instantly turned to Antonio and Jayden. They had left with Emily. They had the answers he was looking for.

"We're going to be two Rangers short if you don't start talking."

Much to Mike's surprise, Antonio grabbed Jayden and slammed him into the wall before storming off. Mike, too impatient to wait for answers, lunged for Jayden while he was down. Kevin grabbed him and pulled him away.

"Mike! Stop it!" he shouted.

Mia's eyes were fixed on the door where Emily had run to.

"She doesn't trust us, but… she trusts everyone…"


	7. Locked In

Antonio had left without a word, Mentor had disappeared like usual, and Jayden had snuck off somewhere while the other three Rangers were distracted trying to get Emily to open the door.

Mike was sitting on the floor with his back against the door. He would knock occasionally on the door and beg Emily to let him in, but she hadn't so far, and Mike had a feeling she wouldn't unlock the door anytime soon. If he wanted, he could easily bust the door wide open, but he risked scaring his girlfriend further and he didn't want that.

Kevin sat down on the other side of the hall. He was staring at the door. He knew all about what had happened to him with the Water Stone, and he had a feeling that whatever happened to Emily was caused by the Earth Stone, but he didn't know how. Jayden had promised him they had fixed everything. He told Kevin that he and Mentor had figured it out. If that was true, which Kevin wanted to believe it was because Jayden wouldn't lie about something like that, there was no good reason why Emily would be so terrified.

But there always was a good reason. Emily was a trusting person. She had trusted Dekker long ago, and the man had nearly beat her to death only a few months before that. If Emily couldn't trust someone, they were either a monster, or something really bad had happened.

Mia was pacing back and forth, her cell phone pressed against the side of her face. Scruffy was pacing with her, curious as to why Emily had run away from him when all he wanted to do was protect her. He thought he had seen Mike attacking her, so he kept his distance from the green Ranger, but Mia was still okay in his eyes.

Mia groaned and pulled the phone away from her face. She glared at the screen, hit a few buttons, and put the phone back to her ear.

"Pick up! Pick up! Pick up!"

"Nothing?" Kevin asked his fiancée. Mia sighed and shook her head.

"She must be sleeping or training or… what time is it over there?"

"Nine in the morning," Mike muttered. He knocked on the door again, "Emily, please! We're not going to hurt you! We just want to help."

There was no answer, just like every time before. Mike was starting to wonder if maybe Emily had snuck out.

"Nine?" Mia asked. She redialled her phone and paced back and forth as it rang, "C'mon, Serena, why are you ignoring me? Why would I be calling you unless something was wrong with your sister?"

"You might want to wait for her to pick up before you start talking to her," Kevin said to his fiancée. "Conversations usually work a lot better when the other person knows they're part of one."

"Shut up," Mia snapped and Kevin knew she meant nothing by it. Like himself, she was stressed.

Finally the ringing on the other end stopped and Mia heard a tired voice answer the phone.

"The first morning where I can sleep in and you ruin it. What do you want?"

"Call your sister," Mia demanded. "Something happened and she won't… hello?" Mia pulled the phone away from her face and stared at it, "She hung up on me."

The sound of a phone ringing could be heard on the other side of the door.

"No she didn't," Kevin said.

Mike felt a little better when he heard Emily's phone ringing. She didn't go anywhere without it, which meant she was still in the room.

The phone kept ringing and ringing though until suddenly it stopped. There was a moment of silence before Mia's phone started ringing. The pink Ranger answered it quickly.

"Anything?"

"Nope."

Mia's shoulders fell sadly. Kevin smiled softly.

"Maybe she just doesn't recognise the number," he suggested. Mia glanced at him and shook his head.

"Serena's name comes up on the screen," she said. "There is no mistaking that."

"Maybe she fell asleep," Mike looked to Mia, "Tell Serena to try again."

Mia did as she was told, and when Emily's phone started ringing on the other side of the door, she took a seat next to Kevin. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Something happened."

"I know that," Mike sighed. He knocked on the door again, hoping that if Emily was sleeping it would wake her up and she would talk to her sister. "Question is: what?"

"Jayden and Antonio took her to program the Stone, right?" Kevin asked and Mike nodded. "Maybe that's what happened. Maybe it wasn't fixed like they thought."

"You mean another problem?" Mia groaned. "This Black Box isn't worth all this. First you, now Emy."

"Whatever happened, keep Antonio and Jayden away from me if you want them to live," Mike growled and continued knocking.

Mia's phone rang again and the pink Ranger answered it, "Nothing?"

"I'm starting to worry," Serena said. "Why won't she answer?"

"I don't know."

"Someone check up on her, please," Serena asked. "If I don't hear anything from her before tomorrow, I'm arming Dekker with all the swords in this Temple and he's coming after you to figure out what happened."

"Send him after Jayden and Antonio," Mia muttered. "They're the last ones who saw her."

"Keep her safe," Serena's tone told Mia she was serious. "I trust you, Mia. Anything happens to her, I'm coming after you."

"I'll call if anything happens," Mia nodded her head and then hung up the phone. She handed it to Kevin and reached into her hair. She pulled out a hairpin and made her way to the door.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked. He saw Mia was trying to pick the lock, but he wanted to know why she was trying to get into the room. They were supposed to wait for Emily.

The lock clicked and Mia opened the door slightly. Kevin and Mike looked amazed.

"Where did you learn that?" Kevin asked his fiancée. Mia shrugged.

"My grandmother locked up a lot of valuables. The older she got, the more she started forgetting where she left her keys."

"Thank you, grandma pink," Mike whispered. He peeked inside the room to check up on Emily first. No matter what, he didn't want to scare his girlfriend. He saw her curled up in a ball against the wall and called her name softly.

Scruffy tried running into the room to protect Emily and comfort her, but Mike grabbed his collar and pulled him away. Scruffy didn't know it, but he would only scare Emily by running up to her. He held back the whimpering dog as Mia and Kevin walked quietly into the room. It was one of Mentor's studies, one the Rangers never used. It had bookshelves, a desk and a big, comfortable chair that threatened to swallow even the biggest of people in its fluffy cushion.

Kevin silently walked over to the bookshelf. At the bottom was a little storage unit. When he first arrived at the Shiba House he had used this room to study, but stopped when he really started to bond with his teammates. He remembered storing a blanket in the bottom of the bookshelf and he went to get it for Emily.

Mia checked up on her yellow teammate. She knelt down beside Emily and brushed the hair away from her face gently so as not to startle the young Samurai. Emily didn't move. Mia saw her eyes were closed and figured she had fallen asleep.

Mike stepped into the room after putting Scruffy outside to keep him from startling Emily. It hadn't been easy walking the protective dog to the front of the house, but Mike had wrestled with slightly bigger dogs and made it out alive. Scruffy wasn't a problem for him.

He walked into the room and fell beside Mia and Emily. He reached for his girlfriend but Mia shook her head.

"She's sleeping," she told Mike. "If you wake her up she'll probably just get scared again."

"I'm not going to hurt her," Mike said. He reached again but Mia slapped his hand away.

"I know that. She might not."

"Here," Kevin draped the blanket over his little sister to keep her warm and feeling safe. The blanket would let Emily know someone had come into the room, but they hadn't harmed her. He hoped it would help Emily learn to trust them all again. When the blanket was around Emily, Kevin looked at Mike and Mia, "We should leave her."

"No," Mike shook his head. "I'm staying here."

"Wait for her in the hall, Mike. You'll freak her out if…"

"Emily's not scared of me!"

"Something happened, Mike," Kevin tried to keep his voice low, unlike Mike, so he wouldn't wake up and scare Emily. "She needs to be alone."

"You don't have a clue what she needs!" Mike shouted.

Mia had no choice. She pulled out her Samuraizer and traced a symbol in the air. Suddenly, Mike and Kevin were both blown out of the room. She looked at Emily, stroked her cheek gently, and then went outside with the boys. She shut the door behind her.

"It stays closed," she glared at Mike and then turned to Kevin, "but we keep it unlocked. Is that a plan?"

"Yeah," Mike and Kevin nodded. Mia smiled slightly.

"Good. Either of you want to help me make her something to eat. Hopefully we can get it to her before she wakes up."

"Hopefully she eats," Kevin muttered, "If she doesn't trust us, why would she trust our food?


	8. A Lifetime To Build A Moment To Destroy

Words could not describe how Jayden was feeling. He hated himself more than he ever hated anyone before, including Dekker and Master Xandred. The only thing keeping him from killing himself with his sword was his friends. They deserved justice for everything he had put them through, and everything he was going to put them through. If he killed himself, he would never have to deal with the consequences of his actions, and he would never feel the pain the other Rangers felt.

But he wanted to die. He wanted to fall off the face of the earth and disappear forever. He was so ashamed, so upset, so scared of himself that he didn't want anything to do with himself.

Emily didn't trust him; rightfully so. He had betrayed her and he had let her down. Unfortunately, because of the Earth Stone, she didn't trust anyone else either. She had run away from her friends, terrified they would hurt her, when everyone, even the Nighlok knew that wasn't the case. Emily was the most protected Ranger on the team. No one ever wanted to hurt her or see her get hurt.

Jayden was out wandering the forest again. Right now it was the only place he could go and hide from his friends. He was just getting close to the river when he heard a smashing noise, like something hitting a rock. He stepped out from the trees, approached the edge of the river and looked around.

"Antonio!" he shouted, rushing over to his friend and grabbing Antonio's wrist before he could smash the rock in his hand against the Black Box. He ripped the rock from Antonio's hand and tossed it into the water. He glared at the Gold Ranger, "What the hell are you doing?"

"This isn't worth it, Jay! The fate of the world isn't worth all this trouble!"

"You can't break it!"

"Watch me," Antonio reached for another rock and held it tightly in his hand. Jayden grabbed his arm and ripped the rock away.

"Antonio, we need that box…"

"Do we?" Antonio shouted. "Ever since we got this damned thing all it's done is try and kill us. Over and over again, every step of the way something bad has happened! You were poisoned, we were all defeated, I drain myself every time it needs to be programmed, Mia nearly fell to her death, Mike and Emily were attacked by a bear, we were inside an active volcano, and Kevin and Emily were put through hell! Whatever's in here, I don't care if it's an easy to use sealing symbol or the secret to end world hunger, it's not worth everything we've been through!"

Jayden grabbed the Black Box from the ground before Antonio made another attempt at smashing it. He looked at his best friend sympathetically.

"I know it doesn't seem like it but…"

"Were you hit on the head, Jay?" Antonio asked. "Seriously, man, a couple of nights ago did someone hit you with a bat? Did you try to get between two of the Zords as they played? What's wrong with you?"

"We'll figure it out…"

"Empty promises, Jay! Emily was right, you are a liar! You're a fucking liar and you're trying to bring me down with you! You've turned into scum and it's all because of that Box!"

Antonio lunged forward to steal the Box back, but Jayden held it out of reach and pushed his golden friend away. Antonio landed on his butt on the ground and looked up at Jayden, hurt.

"It needs to be destroyed."

"No it doesn't," Jayden shook his head. "And even if it did, we can't destroy it now. We have to finish programming Emily's Stone so she can go back to normal."

"Once that's done," Antonio glared at the red Ranger, "you can count me out. No more programming. No more hurting my friends. If we're going to defeat Master Xandred, we're going to do it the old fashion way."

"Antonio…"

"It's their blood on your hands from now on, Jayden," the gold Ranger scoffed. "I guess now I figured out why you're the red Ranger."

-Samurai-

"Emily, please," Mike stood in front of the study room. His forehead was pressed against the door as he begged Emily to come and see him. He knew he could just let himself in, but that would do nothing to earn Emily's trust. "Whatever you think I did, I promise you I would never do it. You mean the world to me. I would never hurt you or betray you."

Complete and total silence from the other side of the door broke Mike's heart. He pounded his fists against the door in frustration but regretted it when he heard a small scream from inside the room. His eyes widened and he laid his hands flat against the door.

"Em, no… I didn't… I'm sorry…" he stammered and hoped that didn't set him back, though he didn't see how he could lose anymore of Emily's trust.

Kevin turned the corner and walked over to Mike slowly. He placed his hand on the green Ranger's shoulder.

"Anything?"

"I'm going to kill them," Mike muttered. "I'm going to tear them limb from limb and make them hurt just as much as she is. As I am!"

"That's not right and you know it," Kevin scolded.

"They did something, Kevin!" Mike shouted. "They took off with Emily and brought her back like this. Actually, no, they didn't bring her back. She ran away! She ran away from them! Whatever happened, it's their fault and they aren't even here to fix it!"

"We'll deal with them the right way when they come back," Kevin promised. He pointed over his shoulder, "Mia and Serena are trying again to call Emily. Have you heard a ring?"

"Once or twice," Mike nodded his head.

"Do you know if Emily can hear it?"

"She's in there, dude," Mike turned to the bedroom door, "She's inside… she's awake, but…"

"Nothing?" the boys turned at the sound of Mia's voice. The pink Ranger tucked her phone away and sighed loudly. "Serena's tried several times now. Emily won't pick up. I've even tried calling her from my phone, hoping the distance would help."

"And?"

"Nothing," Mia shrugged. "Serena's starting to worry."

"Only starting?" Mike sighed. He leaned against the door one more time before the doorbell suddenly rang. The Rangers all exchanged looks before carefully going to the door to investigate. Before opening the door, Kevin had to check to see who it was. Mike and Mia heard him gasp.

"It's Dekker!"

"Dude!"

"What?" Mia asked her fiancé and pushed him out of the way so she could see. Kevin hadn't lied. Dekker was standing at their doorstep. "You're kidding me?"

She opened the door, inviting the older man inside the house.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked him.

Dekker looked at Mia and pointed to her cast, "What happened to you?"

"Not important. Why are you here?"

"Serena is worried."

"So?"

"When the woman I love is worried, I do what I can to help her. She tells me the problem is with you Rangers?"

"Emily won't go near us," Mike nodded. "She won't talk to us, she won't tell us what's wrong. She's locked herself up and won't let us in."

"She doesn't trust us. She thinks we're going to hurt her," Kevin added. Dekker scoffed.

"That's mad," he said. "You would never…"

"Something happened to her," Mike interrupted. "Jayden and Antonio took her and she came home like this."

"Where are the red and gold Rangers?"

"They ran away," Mike growled.

"May I speak with the yellow Ranger?" Dekker asked. Mia, Mike and Kevin exchanged looks before they all shrugged.

"Good luck. If she won't talk to us, I doubt she'll talk to you."

"I have always been honest with the yellow Ranger," Dekker said. "I have tried to harm her and succeeded many times, but I was always truthful. I never once let her believe she was safe when she wasn't."

"So?" Mike frowned.

"Show me where she is hiding," Dekker asked. Mike rolled his eyes and led the way back to the study room. He knocked on the door.

"Em, it's Mike. Dekker's here to see you. He's here for your sister."

There was a brief silence before the Rangers and Dekker heard shuffling inside. Mike, Kevin and Mia all thought it was Emily trying to get out of the room from the window, so they were surprised when the door opened slightly.

Emily looked through the crack at Dekker and only Dekker.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

Dekker shook his head, "Those days are behind me."

Emily was still for a moment but then she opened the door, allowing Dekker to step inside. She tried to keep the Rangers out but Dekker touched her arm.

"They will not hurt you," he promised her. "If they try, they will have to get through me."

Emily nodded nervously and let her friends into the room, making sure she kept her distance from them and that Dekker was always standing between her and them.

Dekker took Emily's hand and led her over to the big chair on the opposite side of the room. He sat her down and then grabbed the desk chair and pulled it next to her.

"I hear you do not trust your team."

Emily shook her head, "They wanted to hurt me."

"I doubt that," Dekker glanced over at the Rangers, "This team is your family. Family does not hurt family."

"They're not my family. No one is. Everyone was in on it."

"In on what?" Dekker asked.

"They want me dead!" Emily shouted, smashing her hands into the armrests. "It was all planned! All along!"

"No, Emily…"

"That's why I'm here," Emily screamed, interrupting Mike. "Mom and dad wanted me here so I would get killed. Serena faked sick to get rid of me. You guys all pretended to be my friend so I wouldn't see it coming! You wanted me dead and Jayden and Antonio were going to do it today!"

"I cannot speak for your parents, nor can I speak for your friends," Dekker took Emily's hand, "but I can assure you, Serena's illness was real. I was the one who healed her. Her concern for you is also genuine. She has been very unsettled since hearing of your pain."

"She's acting," Emily muttered. "She won the drama award in grade nine."

"Are you insisting her tears are crocodile tears?" Dekker asked. He looked at Emily, "Tell me, Emily; how old was your sister when you were born?"

"Seven… well, almost eight," Emily answered while on the other side of the room Kevin furrowed his brow.

"Do you believe an eight year old is capable of plotting against her baby sister?" Dekker asked Emily. "Do you believe that, since the day you were born, your sister has been waiting for the day she could have you killed?"

Emily shook her head, "No, but what if she changed her mind?"

"Serena loves you, Emily," Mia promised the yellow Ranger, though she wasn't sure what good her word would do. "When I told her what happened she threatened to come after me if anything happened to you. I know it's hard for you to believe, for some reason, but Serena didn't try to hurt you. We didn't either. Me, Kevin, Mike… we're all scared for you, Emy."

"If there's anyone you shouldn't trust, it's Jayden and Antonio," Mike said. He stepped in closer to his girlfriend and felt good when she didn't flinch or lean back. "If I knew they were going to hurt you, even just a pinch, I wouldn't have let you go with them. I promise, Emily. I love you."

"Y-you could be lying," Emily shook her head. "All of you…"

"I'm not lying," Mike knelt down in front of Emily's chair and looked up at her with teary eyes. "I swear, Emily, from the bottom of my heart, you mean the world to me. I would die before I ever let anything happen to you. If Jayden and Antonio think they can mess with you, they're going to have to get through me."

"Promise?" Emily blinked back tears.

Mike nodded, "I love you."

Emily threw herself into Mike's arms, "I love you too."

"We'll fix you, Em," Mike promised her. "Whatever Jayden and Antonio did, we'll undo it. I'll figure it out and you'll go back to being you. You'll know the truth."

"I trust you," Emily buried her face in Mike's shoulder.

Dekker got up from his chair and walked over to Mia and Kevin. He guided them out of the room.

"That is enough for now. We will leave them. Trust takes a long time to rebuild."

"Thank you, Dekker," Mia smiled.

"Anytime," Dekker nodded. "Serena's family is now mine."

"Is that why you used her name?" Kevin asked. He pointed to the room, "You always call us by our colours. Today you called her Emily."

"We are family," Dekker said. "She calls me by my name; I should have the same respect for her."

"Uh… don't tell her that just yet," Mia chuckled. "I think she's still getting used to you and Serena dating. If she hears that you're basically her brother because you're dating her sister… she might hurt someone."

"I will keep that in mind," Dekker nodded. "Now, where are the red and gold Rangers? We must get to the bottom of this before you all fall apart."


	9. Mike Volunteers

Kevin couldn't count the number of strange things that had happened to him on his hands and toes. There were too many to count. Being a Samurai was weird, being a hero was weird, and running around in tight blue spandex with a heavy sword was weird. It was weird that his oldest friend was a robotic origami dragon and it was weird that he didn't actually find any of this weird.

But the weirdest thing of all was his new alliance with Dekker.

He sat in the common room with Mia and Dekker. The three of them were waiting for either Jayden or Antonio to come home. They would wait up all night if they had to. The red and gold Rangers needed to come home at some point.

While Kevin waited he needed to do something. He had his notebook with him so he continued practicing the symbol Mentor Ji had taught him. Across the room, Mia was finally telling Dekker her story on how she got the cast. He seemed genuinely concerned for the pink Ranger (another point to add to Kevin's list of weird).

Finally, the door opened up. Kevin, Mia and Dekker held their breaths and hoped Jayden and Antonio would walk right into the common room. Once they did, there would be no getting away from the two angry Rangers and the very worried brother in-law.

As hoped, the pair walked right into the common room and froze up when they saw their friends and Dekker waiting for them. Jayden stuffed the Black Box in his pocket and turned to Antonio. The gold Ranger glared at him before trying to leave.

Kevin jumped up and placed a hand on Antonio's chest. No one was leaving.

"Sit down," he demanded. Both Jayden and Antonio gave him a look that told him they couldn't be ordered around but he looked down at both of them intimidatingly. He growled again, "Sit. Down."

They took their seats without another protest.

Jayden pointed to Dekker, "Why is he here?"

"He's fixing the mess you made," Mia said. "Mike's only just earned Emily's trust back. Whatever you guys did to her…"

"We didn't do anything…"

"Pfft," Antonio scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that, Jayden. Maybe you'll get some sleep tonight."

"Antonio…"

"What's he talking about?" Kevin asked, focusing his attention solely on Jayden. At least Antonio seemed ready to admit he had done something wrong. Jayden still seemed determined to cover up his mistake, if it truly was a mistake. "Jayden, what is Antonio talking about?"

"You'll figure it out soon, I pro…"

Kevin grabbed Jayden by the shirt and lifted him to his feet, "I want to know now!"

"Kevin!" Mia shouted to keep her boyfriend in line. Dekker got out of his seat and pulled the blue and red Rangers apart.

"Stay calm, blue Ranger," Dekker reminded Kevin. "This will do you no good. You have yet to earn Emily's trust and your shouting will not bring you any closer."

"If Kevin can't beat the shit out of Jayden, can I?" Mike asked as he stormed into the room. He glanced over at Antonio, "I'll deal with you once I finish off Jayden."

"Look, Mike," Jayden hoped to reason with the green Ranger, "I know this probably looks bad but…"

"You promised you had it all figured out!" Mike shouted and shoved Jayden. "After what happened to Kevin you promised me Emily would be safe. You promised you would take care of her…"

"And I tried."

"Bullshit!" Mike spat, pushing Jayden again. "She says you hurt her deliberately!"

"No, never!"

"Jayden, stop lying!" Antonio screamed. He glared at Mike, Kevin and Mia, "The truth is that we always knew it was going to hurt. Jayden lied to you and Emily so we could keep working on the Black Box. I was against it, but like the rest of you I trusted Jayden knew what he was doing."

"And I did," Jayden tried to convince everyone, even himself. "Something went wrong. Something's different… I should have seen it coming, because it was a different Stone, but I didn't. I'm sorry and…"

"Show me what you did," Mike glared at Antonio and Kevin. "Everything. I want to experience everything: the lies, the manipulation, the pain..."

"No, Mike, we still need to program Emily's…"

"I want to help her!" Mike shouted to Jayden. "I can't do that if I have no idea what happened to her. She can barely talk about it, so I need to figure it out for myself."

"Once we finish with her Stone…"

"You're not going anywhere near Emily or her Stone!" Mike screamed. "She won't trust you. Neither of you. She won't let either of you near her."

"Mike…"

"Hurt me, Jayden, Antonio," Mike growled. "Hurt me like you hurt Emily. Unless you're too much of a coward to pick on someone your own size."

Jayden sighed. He looked to Antonio and saw the gold Ranger was reluctant to start programming another Stone. It was for good reasons. Antonio had resisted since the beginning and never wanted to put his friends in danger or cause them any pain.

"He's asking for it," Jayden shrugged.

Antonio shook his head, "No. The deal was we fix Emily then we stop."

"Deal's off," Mike snapped. "Kevin, Mia, I've convinced Emily you weren't trying to hurt her. Go sit with her."

"Mike…"

"Please," Mike turned to Mia and looked at her pleadingly. "I have to know… I need to know what they did. I need to help Emily."

"Antonio said they could fix her," Mia said. "Mike…"

"Emily decided by herself she didn't want to help Jayden or Antonio anymore. She's scared to death of them and I need to know why. Please, Mia, Kevin, this is the only way."

"I will make sure nothing happens to him," Dekker promised the engaged couple. Mia and Kevin looked at him and Mike uncertainly, but a nod from the pair convinced them to leave and sit with Emily.

When Mia and Kevin were gone Mike turned to Jayden and Antonio and asked them to get started with whatever crazy thing they had done to hurt Emily. Jayden shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Mike, but we need to finish Emily's…"

"No means no, Jay," Antonio glared at the red Ranger. "Emily said no; we're not continuing."

"Antonio…"

"She said no!" Antonio screamed.

Mike was a little confused by what was going on, but that was why he needed to put himself through whatever Emily had been through. It was the only way he would get some answers, and hopefully after that he would be able to help Emily get back to normal. He gave Dekker a confused look and the man simply responded with a shrug. Dekker then glanced over at Jayden and Antonio.

"It does not matter what Emily said," he told the two boys, "Until we have figure out, or you have told us what you have done to her, neither the green Ranger nor I will let you get any closer to her than you are now. Any plans, good or bad, will have to wait."

"Fine, Mike, you want to hurt?" Antonio asked. "Where's your Stone."

Mike pulled it from his pocket. It was the safest place he could think of keeping it. Jayden sighed loudly and held the Black Box in his hand. He set it down on the table and turned to give Mike the same word of warning he gave Emily.

"Look… we lied…"

"You lied," Antonio corrected. "I just didn't tell the truth."

"Whatever," Jayden shook his head and turned his attention back to Mike. "After Kevin's Stone was programmed… neither Mentor nor I figured out how to programme the Stones properly. In fact, Mentor told me I needed to press on and that there was a chance the problem would fix itself."

"Fix itself?" Mike scoffed. He glared at the red Ranger, "So, wait, when you told Emily that she wouldn't go through the pain Kevin went through… You lied, dude! You lied right to her face!"

"Mike…"

"You knew she was going to hurt!"

"I used the same symbol on her as I did on Kevin. I thought she would go to sleep, we would finish the programming and she would be good as new."

"And then what?" Mike shouted. "Were you going to do the same thing to Mia or me? You would lie to us to?"

"We told Emily the truth…"

"It does not matter," Dekker's growl interrupted Antonio. He pointed to the Black Box. "I would like to see for myself just how much pain you put your team through, Emily intentionally. The green Ranger has volunteered himself to go next. I suggest we get started."

"No symbols," Mike said to Jayden. "I don't trust a damn body in your body. I would rather suffer through the entire process than let you cast god-knows-what kind of symbol on me."

"Mike, it hurts…"

"I saw it, dammit!" Mike shouted. "I saw what happened to Kevin! I know what I'm asking for! Do it, or so help me God I will rip you both…"

"Fine," Jayden snapped, turning to Antonio and signalling for the gold Ranger to pull out his Samurai Morpher.

The gold Ranger did as instructed but before getting started he gave Mike one last look.

"I'm the lesser of two evils," he muttered. "I'm so sorry…"

"Just start the damn thing," Mike took a seat on his stool and waited.


	10. Dekker's Words

Mike's cries of agony resonated through the entire house, but seemed to be loudest in his bedroom. Inside his room, Emily sat on her bed, mortified by the sounds being made. Around her were Kevin and Mia. Kevin couldn't believe his ears as he listened to the screams. He couldn't remember his pain when he had helped Antonio program the Box, so this was all new to him and he hated it. He hated hearing his best friend suffer and he hated knowing there was nothing he could do to put an end to it. All he could do to make things a little easier was be strong for the girls.

Mia sat with Emily. She held her little sister close to her chest and wrapped her arm around her tightly, keeping her safe and warm while Emily was forced to listen to her boyfriend screaming. She had her hands pressed to her ears, but that barely managed to muffle Mike's cries. She took comfort in Mia's arms and felt Kevin's hand gently rubbing her back, but the only reason she trusted them was because of Mike, and the person she really wanted here with her was Mike.

In the common room, Jayden was torn. He watched Mike roll around in pain. Part of him wanted to prove to Mike he was still loyal to the Samurai by respecting his wishes and not using the symbol, but another part wanted to show Mike he would do anything to keep his team from harm, and that meant going against Mike's wishes and using the symbol.

He felt like shit as he stood and watched. Mentor Ji was going to have a lot to answer for the next time he turned up. This had been his plan. It was his fault Jayden had turned into a monster.

Mike's screams grew louder as Antonio promised there was only another minute left. A tear rolled down Jayden's cheek. He saw the light from Mike's stone transfer over into the box. Then, just like that, the screaming stopped and Antonio swayed on the spot before falling over, right in front of Dekker.

Dekker made no attempt to catch Antonio. He simply stepped over him and walked to Mike. He lifted the green Ranger on his shoulder.

Jayden knelt down beside his best friend and tried to help him up, but Antonio shoved him away and crawled off. Jayden sat down on the ground and sighed loudly.

Dekker looked to the red Ranger, "What is worse: a man who stabs his enemies in the chest or a man who stabs his friends in the back?"

"I already hate myself, Dekker," Jayden muttered. "You don't have to make it worst."

"How many more Rangers do you need to harm before this task is complete?"

"Two… and a half, I guess. We still need to finish Emily's stone, and then there's Mia and myself."

"You will put yourself through this torture?"

"I would never ask my team to do anything I wouldn't do myself."

"Were you too cowardly to go first, then?" Dekker asked. "Why put your team through something when you have no idea what it's like?"

"Mentor Ji wants Kevin to master the symbol so he can save me."

"Do you believe you deserve to be saved?" Dekker frowned. "After everything you've done, would it be wise to ask your friends to help you?"

"We don't know what'll happen if we don't use the symbol," Jayden said. "The pain is excruciating from the start and…"

"You did not use the symbol on the green Ranger," Dekker nodded his head towards the man on his shoulder. "He is weak, but from what I can tell he is alive."

"But Mentor Ji wants…"

"A mentor is simply someone with experience who advises other people to do what they think is best. Many times, their advice may be good, but even mentors find themselves mistaken from time to time."

"I…"

"Your mentor gave you his advice. It's up to you on whether you will continue to follow it or if you will do what _you_ think is best for your team."

Dekker pointed down the hall as Mike began to stir, "I will set him down in his bed and then I will head home and I will tell Serena everything that has happened until now. Before sundown tomorrow, she will receive a phone call from you. You will be completely honest with her about everything that you have done to her sister and her friends, and you will also tell her how you fixed everything and will no longer harm or lie to the Rangers again."

"Dekker… I can't…"

"Are you a coward?"

"No… I…"

"Sundown tomorrow. You will tell her _everything_."

Without waiting for Jayden to make another argument, Dekker left for the bedrooms. Jayden let out a long, deep sigh as he let himself fall onto his back. Dekker had basically given him an ultimatum. He was asking Jayden to tell Serena everything, and he was forcing him to be completely honest with his friends.

Only Jayden couldn't be completely honest with them. There were some secrets he knew that he wasn't ready to share. But after everything that happened the Rangers deserved total honesty.

Jayden slammed his fists against the floor and sat upright. He pulled his Samuraizer and his lion Zord out of his pocket.

"The responsibility of red Ranger is mine, and mine alone," he said to himself. "This team is my team. They are my friends. Nothing will ever change that. It is my duty to protect them as my father protected their parents."

-Samurai-

Kevin held both Mia and Emily in his arms as he watched Dekker place Mike in the green bed and pull the blankets over his sleeping body. Dekker had assured the three of them that Mike was still alive and that programming his Stone had been a success. Now all they had to do was wait for Mike to wake up.

When Dekker was sure Mike was settled he turned to the three Rangers in Emily's bed. He gave them a soft, comforting smile, which was weird for them to see but they definitely appreciated it.

"I will be heading off," Dekker told them. "Serena awaits my return. I promised her I would not be gone for long."

"I guess it wouldn't be right to ask you to trade places with Jayden," Kevin muttered. "I think we all trust you a lot more than we do him."

"My responsibilities are to the Tengen Gate and Serena," Dekker nodded. "However, I will not hesitate to return here should any of you need me."

"Thank you, Dekker," Mia smiled, "For everything."

Emily pulled herself out of her shelter made from Mia and Kevin and crawled to the end of the bed. She opened her arms and wrapped them around Dekker. Dekker smiled as he held Emily comfortingly.

"Everything will work out," Dekker promised her. "Continue to listen to your heart. It will tell you right from wrong and who to trust."

He set Emily back down in her bed and smiled when Kevin pulled her back into his arms. The Samurai Rangers were in trouble, but at least the four Rangers in this room had each other. They may not have been the strongest warriors he had ever seen, but he had never seen anything stronger than they loyalty to each other.

Before Dekker left, though, he had one more thing to say. He looked Kevin in the eyes.

"The symbol you are learning now, it is up to you whether or not you ever choose to use it. When the time comes to make that choice, remember that revenge makes you just as bad as the person who hurt you."

"Uh, okay," Kevin nodded his head and Dekker walked out of the room. The blue Ranger blinked and turned to Mia. "Um, wise words from a man who used to be a monster."

"Who would have thought," Mia chuckled. She looked down at Emily and squeezed her sister tight when she noticed the young Samurai had her eyes fixed on Mike, "Let him rest for a bit. He'll be okay."


	11. All About Trust

Mike's eyes slowly fluttered open and instantly regretted it. Not only was the ceiling light shining brightly in his sore, tired eyes, but every fiber of his being was screaming in pain. He couldn't breathe without feeling pain, making him want to hold his breath, but even that caused him to hurt. He grunted in pain as he tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable in bed. That was when he heard a gasp and footsteps racing over to his bed.

"Mike!" he could always recognise Emily's voice and tried to smile as she jumped on the bed and wrapped her arms around him. He groaned loudly in pain, though he hated himself for doing so. Emily pulled away, a look of panic and regret on her face. She gasped again, "Mike! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," even speaking hurt, but he had to let her know he was okay. He took her hand in his, "It hurts whether you hug me or not."

"Give him a little room, Emy," Mike saw Mia approaching the bed and she wrapped her arm around Emily's shoulders. The pink Ranger looked down at the green, "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone ripped me limb from limb," Mike winced in pain as he spoke. He looked Mia in the eyes, "Don't let Jayden or Antonio talk you into doing this. The pain's not worth it."

"I won't," Mia promised him.

"Regret living through it?" Kevin chuckled as he walked over on the other side of the bed and smiled at his best friend. Mike shook his head and then looked at Emily.

"It was hell, but now I know why you didn't trust us. Whether it's the Stone's doing or not, I would have questioned everyone's loyalty if I went through what you went through."

Emily nodded and shrank into Mia. She looked at Mike sadly, "Do you still want them to finish so I can go back to being me?"

"It was painless for me," Kevin promised Mike. "The symbol Jayden used, it really does take away the pain. I doubt she'll feel anything."

"I trust that," Mike said. He looked to Emily, "Only if you want to risk it again, Emily. It's your call."

Emily shook her head, "No. I don't want to be me anymore. I would rather not trust people and not get hurt."

"Em…"

"No!" Emily shouted to Kevin. "When Jayden told me what would happen he promised it would only hurt for a second. He promised nothing would happen after that. I did it because I trusted him and look where it got me! Look where it got us! I'm not trusting anyone ever again!"

Mia squeezed her little sister, "Emy, not everyone's twisted. We need people like you, especially on this team."

"I'm not doing it again! Jayden's going to hurt me!" Emily screamed and pressed her hands to her ears so she didn't have to hear Mia's or Kevin's attempts to change her mind.

"Em…" Mike ignored the excruciating pain as he sat himself up in his bed and pulled Emily into his arms. It was her choice whether she wanted her Stone's programming completed or not, and he wasn't going to let anyone force her into anything. He wiped the tears from her eyes and looked directly at her, "No matter which you you are, I'll still love you. It's up to you whether you want to finish with the Stone or not. No one's pressuring you."

"We'll have your back, Em," Kevin promised. "We don't need that stupid Black Box. If you want to let it go, that's fine."

"I don't trust Jayden or Antonio," Emily sobbed. "They hurt the three of us… why wouldn't they do it again?"

"We won't let them hurt us again," Kevin said and suddenly he remembered the symbol Mentor Ji asked him to learn. He smiled and knelt down beside the bed. He looked up at Emily, "If you don't trust them, will you trust me?"

"What?"

"Mentor Ji's asking me to learn the symbol Jayden's been using on us. It's a painless symbol, so it does work to take away the pain. It worked with me, and are you in pain right now? Physically, I mean."

Emily shook her head, "No."

"So it works," he smiled. "If I make sure the symbols holds until the end of the programming, will you finish it?"

"But I don't want to go back to trusting people…"

Mike cupped Emily's cheeks in his hands and turned her head so she was looking at him. He smiled sweetly to her.

"There's a world of people out there who are going to hurt trusting people like you. But I'm not going to let that happen. Anyone tries to take advantage of you and they'll deal with me. You've got nothing to worry about Em. If you really don't want to change back, that's okay… but think this through. Are Jayden and Antonio really worth you giving up who you are? Do you want to let them change you, or do you want to be bigger than that?"

Emily nodded her head, "I guess I can't stay stuck forever."

"And who knows how long Jayden's symbol will last," Mia added. "Once it wears off, I'm sure you'll be untrusting and in pain. Might as well get it all over with, right?"

Emily turned to Kevin, "Do you promise it won't hurt?"

"I promise."

Emily smiled at her brother and leaned into Mike's chest. She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same with her.

"Just don't squeeze me please," he said as he kissed her forehead. "Just a little more pain and I might pass out."

"The pain should go away soon," Kevin promised. "Your Stone's programmed, so it shouldn't hurt for much longer. It was instant for me…"

"I asked Jayden not to use the symbol," Mike said. "That's probably why it's taking longer. I didn't trust him enough."

"Get some rest," Mia smiled to Mike. "We'll go talk to Antonio about Emily's Stone. Right, Kevin?"

"We'll leave you alone," Kevin nodded. Mia escorted him out of the room, leaving only Mike and Emily. The green Ranger tried to lean back down into his pillow but he winced and groaned in pain. Emily noticed and pulled away, thinking she was making things a little harder for him.

"Don't," Mike whispered when he felt her leaning back. "I need you."

"But it hurts…"

"I'll tell you if you're hurting me," Mike reached for her arm and pulled her back. He lay down in his bed with her beside him. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. It hurt, but it also felt so good. He ran his hand up and down her arm as he stared at her. She had her head on his chest and the up and down movements from his breathing was causing her to fall asleep. He kissed the top of her head and then placed his hand under her chin. He gently lifted her head up and kissed her lips, "For better or worse, Em, I'm yours. Today, tomorrow, years from now, nothing will change that."

"Are you sure?" Emily asked him, her smile fading a little bit. Mike looked slightly concerned at that, but he meant what he said. He had met many girls, but none of them were like Emily. She would always hold a special place in his heart and he intended on keeping her close. Without hesitation he nodded his head and smiled.

"Nothing will change my mind."

"What if someone better or prettier or…?"

"Em, stop listening to the Stone," Mike chuckled. "Trust me, there's no one better or prettier in my eyes."

"I'm not ready…"

"I'm not asking," Mike leaned forward and kissed her again, "but I will fight my hardest for us and I will wait. Will you?"

"Yeah," Emily smiled and giggled, "If we're doing it the traditional way I kind of have to, don't I?"

Mike shrugged, "Hey, I like surprises," he cuddled into his girlfriend, "whenever you're ready, Em. Today, tomorrow, years from now, I'm yours."


	12. The End Of The Black Box

Mia squeezed Kevin's hand as they approached Antonio's bedroom, unsure of whether he was inside or not, but they needed to find out. She was worried about what they wanted to ask Antonio because there was a chance that things didn't work out the way she wanted them to. She hadn't yet experienced the pain of the Stones, but she had seen Kevin's experience and heard Mike's cries. It wasn't something she would wish on her enemies, and it definitely wasn't something she wanted Emily to go through a second time.

Just before they reached Antonio's room Mia stopped. Kevin continued walking until his hand felt a tug. He turned back to Mia with a gentle look.

"You know we have to do this…"

"Are you sure?" Mia asked him. "Can you really… you know, do the symbol? If you can't and we go through with this…"

"I don't want to see her hurting either," Kevin promised Mia. "I could barely sit through Mike's programming… I wouldn't be able to hear Emily's screams, never mind be in the same room with her, without completely losing my sanity."

"It's just… you've only started learning the symbol and… what if…"

"Mia," Kevin smiled and wrapped his arms around her, "You know half the process of mastering any symbol is believing you have the strength to create it. I know I can do this, and when it's do or die, I'm going to do. I'll make sure the process is painless and I'm going to make sure you never have to know what it's like."

Mia leaned into Kevin and listened to his screams play over and over again in her mind before Mike's screams were suddenly added overtop, making it twice as loud and twice as painful for Mia to imagine. She buried her face in his chest. Kevin could feel her trembling as she sobbed. He held her tight and kissed the top of her head.

"It's okay," he whispered, "Everything's going to be fine."

He continued to hold Mia with one hand while the other knocked on Antonio's door. Mia heard the knock and tried to straighten herself out before seeing Antonio. She didn't want him to see her hurting. She didn't like it when people knew she was hurting. She was the strong one; the one who couldn't easily be broken.

The door opened and Antonio looked at the two oldest Samurai. He lowered his head in shame.

"I'm so…"

"Cut the crap," Kevin snapped. "We need you and the Black Box one more time."

Antonio looked up, eyes wide. He glanced at Mia an d thought she was here because she wanted to get her programming over and done with. He shook his head wildly from side to side and backed away from the couple.

"No! No way! I'm not going near that Black Box again! It hurts, Mia!"

"You think I don't know that?" Mia growled. "I saw what it did to Kevin, I heard what it did to Mike, and I know it's still holding onto Emily. If you're going to put them all through hell, you may as well make sure they go all the way."

"Emily…"

"Finish her programming or I will make sure you know what they went through," Mia took a step forward and Antonio stumbled as he took three steps backwards. Kevin grabbed his fiancée's shoulders to hold her back. Had he not been trying to keep a straight face so Antonio would know they weren't joking around, he would have laughed at his fiancée's ability to terrify the golden Ranger.

"I would listen to her, Antonio," Kevin said, "I can only hold her back for so long, and I'm pretty sure she's tougher than you even with the cast holding her back."

"But the symbol's different with her than with you…"

"It will do its job," Kevin assured the fisherman, "I'll make sure of it. Stop acting like a coward and finish what you started."

Antonio looked from Mia's deadly glare to Kevin's angry stare. He didn't want to hurt his friends but he knew what he had to do. He nodded his head and walked to his desk to pick up the Black Box.

"We'll just need Jayden…"

"No Jayden," Kevin shook his head, "I'm in charge now. I'll make sure the symbol works and if Emily's in any pain I'll be the one to cast it again."

"But…"

"Any man who hurts my family is dead to me," Kevin growled. "If we didn't need the sealing symbol, Jayden would already be six feet under."

Antonio gulped and closed the door behind him as he followed Kevin and Mia down the hall. Inside Antonio's room, Jayden sat on his own bed, feeling like the little prick inside a shoe that one can never find or remove while it continues to hurt the sole with every step. He leaned back into his pillow and stared at his lion Zord folded up in his hands and his Samuraizer. He knew he needed to make things right. After dialling a number he pressed the Samuraizer to his ear and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Hello?"

"There's something you need to know…"

-Samurai-

It didn't take long for the pain of the programming to fade away for Mike. He was almost back to feeling completely normal. The only part of him that hurt was his hand. Emily was squeezing it so tightly; it was starting to turn blue. He had told her to do so if she felt any pain while Antonio finished her Stone's programming. This way he could make sure Kevin used the symbol as soon as it started, especially if the pain kept Emily from speaking.

He knew that while she was squeezing him, she wasn't in any pain. The squeezing had started long before the programming. It was Emily's panic playing up. He wrapped his other arm around her and kissed her.

"It's almost over," he told her and suddenly she fell limp. Mike caught her and he laid her down carefully on his bed. Antonio stumbled forward, landing on his hands and knees. He was relieved it was over.

Kevin tucked his Samuraizer away. He didn't need to use it. Jayden's initial symbol had lasted until the very end and had worked to keep things completely pain free. He turned away from the Black Box, Antonio, and the Earth Stone and looked at Emily and Mike on the bed.

"How is she?" he asked. Emily's eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at Mike. She threw her arms around him, holding him close. Mike kissed her again before looking over her shoulder to Kevin.

"She's Emily."

Mia smiled. She turned her attention to Antonio and pointed to the door, "You can go now."

Antonio nodded and gathered up the Black Box and his Samurai Morpher. As he started for the door he heard Emily calling his name. He stopped.

"I'm sorry, Em… I didn't want…"

"Thanks for being honest."

Antonio glanced over his shoulder at his yellow teammate. He offered her a quick smile before leaving the room.

Mike looked down at Emily, "What was that?"

"Antonio's just as mad at Jayden as you are," Emily shrugged. "He was the one who made Jayden tell me the truth. He's a good guy! I mean, c'mon! It's Antonio!"

Mike pressed his forehead against Emily's and smiled at her, "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that."

"We've got a big choice to make," Kevin announced as he took a seat on Emily's bed and pulled Mia onto his lap. "What do we do next? What about Jayden and Antonio? The Black Box…?"

"Take it one day at a time, I guess," Mia shrugged her shoulders. "If we need it, I'll…"

"No," Kevin stated firmly. He shook his head, "No, Mia, you're not going anywhere near that Box until we've actually figured out a way to make it pain free and we test it on Jayden first. It's not worth it."

"Trust me," Mike nodded, "it's far from worth it."

"I guess, like all other teams… we won't use it," Mia shrugged.

"Can we afford not to use it, though?" Emily asked. "We still haven't defeated that Spider Nighlok…"

"If we need it, Jayden'll have to work his ass off to make sure it's painless," Kevin told Emily. "There's no way anyone else is going near that thing while it's still so dangerous. Mike survived it, but there's always a 'what if', and I'm not going to risk losing any of you to a stupid box with an even stupider name."

"So… we're done with it, then?" Mike asked Kevin, Mia and Emily. "No more trying. No more waiting or wondering. It's done."

"It's done," Mia nodded. It was then a catchy tune reached all their ears and Emily reached into her pocket. She answered at her phone and smiled.

"Serena?"

"Speaker phone?" Mike whispered. Emily nodded her head and set the phone onto speaker so everyone could talk with Serena.

"Hi guys," Serena chuckled, hearing the shift on her end as Emily tapped away on her phone.

"Why are you calling?" Emily asked her sister. She loved it when Serena phoned her, but her older sister never did unless it was on the schedule. She and Emily would usually only speak once a week. Any other conversations were usually too important to wait and dealt with Samurai business.

"My friend, my possible future brother in-law and my baby sister suffer at the hands of their friend and leader and you don't think I'm going to call to see how you guys are doing?"

"We're all fine," Mike promised Serena. "Once our Stones are programmed it's kind of like it never happened."

"The only reminder that it did happen is the knife in our backs," Kevin muttered.

There was a sigh on Serena's end, "Yeah… Jayden told me about that."

"He… he did?" Emily frowned.

"Yeah. I just finished a very long and… private conversation with him."

"Why did you call him?" Mia asked.

"I didn't. He called me. I was expecting it, though. Dekker told me that he told Jayden to call me to tell me everything that's happened."

"Don't believe a word he says," Kevin warned the older Samurai. "He's a lying, backstabbing, treacherous…"

"Slow down there, Kevin. I'm smart enough to know when to trust people and when to have my doubts."

"Hey!"

"No offense, Emy," Serena chuckled. "Look, guys. I know you're all hurting but… from what Jayden told me… well, he didn't handle things the right way and I would be mad at him if I were you. Hell, I'm furious with him right now and I won't ever forget this but, like it or not, you guys are all on a team."

"We don't like it," Mike frowned. "Serena, this is different for you. You weren't here. You didn't see or hear anything that happened."

"I know, I know…"

"What he did… I didn't expect that from Master Xandred, never mind the red Ranger!" Mike said. "You don't know how much it hurt. If I'm being really honest here… the programming was the part that hurt the least… knowing you've just been lied to by someone you care about, someone you never thought would lie to you… I don't think I'll ever get over that."

Mike looked up at his teammates who all nodded. They felt the same way. Kevin couldn't remember the pain he had to endure and even if he could, no one knew he would suffer when his Stone had been programmed. But the fact that Jayden insisted they continue with the Black Box, and the way he lied to Emily and tried to cover up his mistakes was unforgivable in Kevin's eyes. If Jayden had been loyal, and if he had any respect for the Samurai Rangers, he would have been honest with them from the start and he would have let them make up their own minds.

Emily felt a little differently from Kevin. She was still hurt that Jayden had lied to her face. He had let her believe that the box had been fixed and had taken her so far away from home that it was almost impossible to refuse an attempt to program the Stone. Jayden had been honest with her and he had allowed her the chance to refuse, but Emily still remembered how he hesitated. He had tried sugar-coating the truth, and Emily knew that if it weren't for Antonio he probably would have made the programming sound like it wouldn't be painful at all. She could also remember just how long she had to endure the pain before she was hit by Jayden's symbol and thinking it over again, she knew he had hesitated again. And he still hadn't apologized to her for what he had done. Instead, he chose to run away, making her feel like he didn't care what she had gone through for him. She had only suffered because she trusted him, and when he let her down, if he was truly her friend, he could have at least apologized.

Mike couldn't care less about Jayden. Things were simple for the green Ranger. He had watched his best friend get hurt, witnessed the woman he loved losing everything about her that made her completely unique, and he had endured hell, all because the so-called _fearless_ red Ranger couldn't handle the truth. As far as Mike was concerned, Jayden was dead to him. The team, depending on where Antonio stood with his loyalty, was at best a team of five and a family of five.

Mia wrapped her arm around Kevin and leaned into him. She too hated Jayden for what he had done. She couldn't hate him for the things he had done to Kevin. No one knew her fiancé would hurt so much. But Jayden had done something just as unforgivable in her eyes. Mike and Emily were her little siblings and at times she even felt like their (very young and cool) mother. Hurting them deliberately, no matter the reason, was enough to turn Mia against even Kevin. Next time she saw Jayden, he had better run away from her.

"We need a new red Ranger," Mia muttered and rolled her eyes. "I think Jayden's dug his own grave with this little stunt."

"Can you come home, Serena, and we'll send Jayden to guard the Tengen Gate?" Emily asked her older sister on the phone."

"Uh… I'm not a red Ranger, Emily, and if I'm going to replace anyone it's you," Serena laughed. "Besides, if you don't trust Jayden at the Shiba House, why would you trust him here?"

"Just… put a lock on all the doors before he arrives. Or, you know… you can leave Dekker behind and he can keep an eye on Jayden…"

"Nice try, Emy. Not going to happen."

"Don't tell us to trust him, Serena," Mike said, "It would take a miracle for him to earn our trust again, and even with that miracle it's not going to be easy."

"I know," Serena said. "I'm not telling you to trust him. If he tells you the sky is blue, look up just to make sure. But… until further notice, he's your teammate. You can't change that. Maybe one day… but for now you guys will have to find a way to make this work."

"Until further notice?" Emily frowned and looked at her cell phone. "Serena…"

"What? I'll be right there, Dekker!"

"Dekker wasn't… Serena!"

"I've got to go!" Serena said into the phone. "I love you all."

"Serena!" Emily crossed her arms and pouted when Serena hung up the phone. "What did she mean by that?"

"The Tengen Gate's shipping us over a new red Ranger to replace our broken one?" Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "It probably doesn't mean anything, Em. I wouldn't worry about it."

Emily huffed and picked up her phone from the bed. She tossed it over to her own bed and then sighed as she looked around.

"I'm bored. Can we do something?"

"Like what?" Mia chuckled.

"Get away from here for starters," Emily shrugged. "It's way too stressful in here."

"The beach should be quiet this time of night," Kevin stated. "If we leave now we'll have time to enjoy the beach and watch the sunset."

"Sounds good," Mike smirked.

"One rule," Mia nodded as Mike and Emily started gathering their things from the beach and Kevin made his way to the door to get his and Mia's things. All eyes turned to her for a moment. She pointed to her broken wrist, "No getting water on the cast."


End file.
